Politico made a correction to an article regarding White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles after the White House warned the outlet of unspecified “consequences.” However, it opted not to amend two additional articles and alleged that the Trump administration was retaliating against them.
This correction addressed an Oct. 16 piece which suggested that Wiles was behind some problematic Fox News interviews that resulted in Katie Zacharia’s abrupt departure as press secretary after just five days. One source described it as a “sanctioned hit.” Yet, text messages acquired by The Post revealed that it was Zacharia who had actually expressed interest in those TV appearances, stating, “I’d like to do news hits morning and evening.”
On Monday, White House legal counsel sent a letter to Politico demanding a retraction and corrections for three articles that implicated Wiles in internal conflicts within a 48-hour timeframe, warning them to “face the consequences” if they failed to comply.
Following the letter, Politico acknowledged a mischaracterization in the Oct. 16 article, admitting that Wiles had “not played a direct role” in arranging the interview. Nonetheless, in a letter received by The Post, Politico’s attorney Theodore Boutrous accused the Trump administration of attempting to “chill and punish” the outlet for what it perceives as unfavorable coverage of Trump.
“Politico firmly disputes the false claims made in your letter that it published ‘fanciful fiction’ and ‘purposeful falsehoods to mislead the public,’” Boutrous stated, highlighting that the articles referenced comments from senior officials. He continued, “Politico takes such assertions seriously, which is why it chose to correct one of the three articles you cited.” Furthermore, he noted that the timing and nature of the letter reinforce the idea of retaliatory and biased motives behind the president’s ban on Politico, CNN, and MS NOW from White House events.
The Monday letter from White House Counsel William Scharf outlined references to three articles. One article from Oct. 15 alleged that Trump was considering firing Wiles, which he dismissed as “fake news.” Another article from Oct. 16 claimed that the previous piece caused a “freakout,” which the White House labelled as “unbelievably stupid and false.” There was also the Oct. 16 article discussing Zacharia’s resignation.
Scharf accused Politico of publishing “demonstrably false and defamatory articles” in an effort to create a narrative of chaos and discord within the White House, despite having received “direct, on-the-record refutations” from high-level staffers and Trump himself. He mentioned that a Politico journalist indicated they would not retract Wiles from the story involving Zacharia because “Wiles was the ‘hook’ for the story,” a statement he found alarming.
The attorney demanded that Politico rectify or retract the three articles, issue a public apology to Trump and Wiles, and remove the content from its online archives within 48 hours—a deadline that would end on Thursday.
As of Thursday, Politico had not made corrections to the two other articles about Wiles. In its response, the outlet declared it would “defend its journalism and the right of its reporters to report fearlessly on the President and other White House officials.”
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez contended that “Politico should apologize to its dwindling readership for knowingly publishing lies.” She criticized the outlet’s “reckless disregard for the truth,” asserting that the core issue was not whether Politico got the facts wrong, but rather why its editors persist in publishing knowingly false claims.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also criticized Politico, labeling it as a foreign-owned entity trying to interfere in American politics and elections with misinformation.
Trump has barred Politico, CNN, and MS NOW from covering him in both the Oval Office and on Air Force One. He had previously attempted to prevent these outlets from accessing the White House grounds entirely, but a judge later restored their privileges.
Trump has also had disagreements with the Associated Press, placing restrictions on it after it refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. A federal judge also reinstated access for that outlet.
Meanwhile, CNN signaled potential legal action against the White House if it does not restore the network’s access to Air Force One and the Washington press pool.
