Politics

Trump Tweet Falsely Claims NSC Official Doesn’t Exist

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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President Donald Trump attacked the “corrupt New York Times” on Saturday, claiming that the outlet had used a “phony source” who “doesn’t exist” in a story on the possibly renewed summit between the United States and North Korea. But according to the White House transcript and several journalists, the source was National Security Council member Matt Pottinger — who does exist.

President Trump tweeted his comments about the story late Saturday morning.

Mike Warren, senior writer for the Weekly Standard, was quick to correct the record on Twitter.

Yashar Ali, who obtained audio of the background briefing, identified Pottinger as the source of the comment.

Ali then offered additional background information on the briefing in question along with audio of the call.

Politico also addressed the president’s tweets, saying that he was in part correct since he claimed that the Times quoted the source as using the word “impossible” in reference to a June 12 summit and that word was never used. The White House transcript confirmed that the word “impossible” was not included in the original comment.

“There’s a certain amount of actual dialogue that needs to take place at the working level with your counterparts to ensure that the agenda is clear in the minds of those two leaders when they sit down to actually meet and talk and negotiate, and hopefully make a deal. And June 12 is in 10 minutes, and it’s going to be – you know,” the official said, according to a White House transcript. “But the President has said that he has – someday, that he looks forward to meeting with Kim.”

According to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Trump administration’s advance team will still go to Singapore to prepare for the possibility that the summit will still take place.(RELATED: Trump Says US Is Talking To North Korea About Saving The Summit)