ADVERTISEMENT
The Washington Post thought it had a scoop. Two anonymous sources. A dramatic scene at Camp David. A furious president dressing down his defense secretary over supposed munitions shortages. The kind of story that, if true, would signal chaos at the top of the administration during an active military conflict with Iran.
Karoline Leavitt was at Camp David. She said so plainly: the confrontation the Post described “literally never happened.” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the administration told the Post directly that the story was false before publication. The Post ran it anyway, with the anonymous sourcing and the dramatic framing intact, because the story served a narrative it wanted told regardless of whether the facts supported it.
Trump’s response was personal and public. In a Truth Social post that the White House press office amplified Thursday, the president defended Hegseth in the strongest possible terms while tearing into the Post by name:
? Trump strongly defends Pete Hegseth and dismisses recent media reports as false. Trump highlights Hegseth’s major military successes in Venezuela and Iran while praising his ending of DEI in the military and record recruitment!
????????????????????
“The… pic.twitter.com/seeMsYJLoo— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 6, 2026
ADVERTISEMENT