CNN Reporter Gets Hammered by Trump Critics for Giving ‘Thanks’ to Trump Envoy Witkoff

Trump critics hammered CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen for said the world should “thank” Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in a social media post after the announcement of a hotly-disputed ceasefire.

Just hours before the president’s deadline to destroy the “whole civilization” of Iran, conflicting announcements of a two-week ceasefire emerged. While Trump and his allies declared the deal a victory, other experts and observers characterized the announcement as Trump “backing down” from the threat.

The president also lashed out at CNN and “ordered” the network “to immediately withdraw” their reporting “with full apologies” after two separate statements from different Iranian authorities were read on the air.

But Pleitgen drew fire from a drastically different quarter when he wrote on X/Twitter that gratitude was due to Trump’s Iran negotiators:

This is a major achievement for US Special Envoy @SEPeaceMissions [Steve Witkoff] and Iranian Foreign Minister @araghchi as well as Pakistan’s leadership. It could pave the way for a long term peace between the US and Iran as well as a reset of security in the Middle East. The odds were stacked against them but they got it done. The world should thank them both.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s social media post was key to Trump’s explanation of the deal, although edits to the post raised questions.

Social media critics slammed the correspondent over the post. Investigative journalist Scott Stedman asked “lol what? what kind of reporting is this?”

Activist Charlotte Clymer just gave a stunned “WHAT?!”

Video influencer Aaron Rupar wrote “I am not going to thank Trump’s corrupt buddy who is cosplaying as secretary of state for reasons that have never been explained, and who also played a key role in this war starting in the first place.”

He later piled on:

Sorry, but this is just a bizarre tweet from a CNN reporter. The “world should thank” our corrupt cosplay secretary of state Witkoff for brokering a break in a war he helped start that accomplished absolutely nothing for the United States or Iranian people but left conditions in the region worse than they were 6 weeks ago? How was any of this a win for anyone beyond the emboldened Iranian regime?

Another prominent video influencer, The Tennessee Holler, wrote:

CNN reporter says “the world should thank” Witkoff – who had a hand in an unnecessary war and is profiteering every step of the way in the Middle East – and praises him along with the other negotiators 🤔

Bizarre

Political analyst Scott Lucas credited Pleitken’s usual work but questioned the take:

Bizarre from a normally good journalist.

How is launching a destructive war, to point of threatening “death of civilisation”, as #Trump envoy….

A “major achievement”?

Mediaite reached out to CNN for comment on Pleitgen’s post, but they had nothing to add.

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