Backfire: Leavitt’s attempt to deny report accidentally proves key detail

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt looks on during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Thurmont, Maryland, U.S., July 31, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Heuer

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in an effort to “knock down” a Washington Post report about President Donald Trump’s heated meeting with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, appeared to accidentally verify the reporting, according to one Washington Post journalist.

The report in question claims Hegseth and Trump “clashed” during a Camp David summit last week as the president’s “frustration over the Iran war boiled over.” Trump reportedly “demanded answers from Hegseth on why he had apparently been misled on extreme munitions shortages that now threaten to limit military options with Iran.”

Reuters reported Tuesday that “the U.S. Army has used up much of its global stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles” during the Iran war, including “the Army's surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM).” Reuters, citing two sources, said the “the U.S. has used ‘virtually all’ of these weapons.”

Trump, during the Camp David Cabinet meeting, “vented at Hegseth that he thought the munitions issue ‘had been fixed,’” according to the Post. The defense secretary “defended himself and blamed his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, for the shortages” and for keeping Trump in the dark.

On Truth Social Thursday, Trump denied the munitions shortage, insisting "The U.S. has massive amounts of 'munitions,' especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed.”

Late Wednesday night on X, Leavitt called the Post report “B.S.” and claimed the altercation “literally never happened.” Leavitt said the “story was shopped to many outlets by someone clearly out to disparage the secretary, for whatever reason. Unfortunately for them, the president loves the secretary and thinks he’s doing a tremendous job.”

Leavitt closed her statement with an all-caps “fake news!”

But, as Washington Post military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe noted, the White House denial actually verifies a major element of the report.

“The White House is trying to knock down tonight's story by my colleagues in part by highlighting that Trump ‘loves’ Secretary Hegseth,” Lamothe wrote on X. “The story never says otherwise. Instead, it reports that Hegseth got pressed by Trump on a specific, important issue.”

“Further, the Post has reported previously that despite last year's turmoil in the Pentagon, Hegseth has maintained Trump's support,” Lamothe added.

Indeed the Washington Post report included a quote from Leavitt herself, in which she denied the reporters' claims and asserted Trump's support of Hegseth.

“President Trump has the utmost confidence in Secretary Hegseth,” Leavitt told the Post, according to the Post’s own reporting.

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