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The recurring "fake news" label on reporting later confirmed accurate

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You're probably here because of the Jul 2025 rerun. This is the 4th time since 2018 this story has run. The previous rerun was Mar 2025.

About this story

Donald Trump and his administration have repeatedly called specific news reports fake or a hoax. This story records four. They are a January 2018 New York Times report that he ordered Robert Mueller fired, The Atlantic's 2020 "losers" and "suckers" report, The Atlantic's March 2025 report on a Signal chat about the Yemen strikes, and a July 2025 Wall Street Journal report on an Epstein birthday letter.

Later records supported the core of each report. These were the Mueller report, John Kelly's 2023 statement to CNN, the National Security Council's confirmation of the chat and the full transcript, and the letter released by House Oversight Democrats, which AP said matched the Journal's description.

Some details were not confirmed. The Mueller report contradicted part of the Times account. Trump called the Signal story a "witch hunt," and the White House denies that he wrote or signed the letter.

Sources: 1

20162026

Jul 2025 – Sep 2025 Epstein birthday letter

The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2025 on a lewd letter bearing Trump's name in a 2003 album made for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. The Journal did not publish the letter itself then (PolitiFact). Before the first report, Trump told the Journal, "I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women. It's not my language. It's not my words." (Mediaite). In July he called the letter a "fake thing" (PolitiFact). He called the report "false, malicious, and defamatory" (AP via PBS) and filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Journal. The libel complaint described the letter as "nonexistent" (PolitiFact), and his attorneys called it "fake and nonexistent" (Mediaite). On Sept. 8, 2025, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee posted the letter. It came from the birthday album that the committee received from Epstein's estate. AP reported that the released letter "looks exactly as described by the The Wall Street Journal in its report." The release came less than ten weeks after the Journal's July report. The White House disputed authorship. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X on Sept. 8, "It's very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it." At a Sept. 9 briefing she said, "The president did not write this letter. He did not sign this letter." (PolitiFact). Whether Trump wrote or signed the letter remains disputed. What was confirmed is that the letter exists, sits in the album and matches the Journal's description.

  • Al Jazeera article
    The letter released by the committee looks exactly as described by the WSJ in its report.
  • mediaite.com article
    In the complaint, Trump's attorneys contended the letter was "fake and nonexistent."
  • PolitiFact article
    It's very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable

Mar 2025 Signal chat on the Yemen strikes

On March 24, 2025, The Atlantic reported that its Jeffrey Goldberg had been added to a Signal chat where senior officials discussed the Yemen strikes. According to Axios, the White House National Security Council (NSC) confirmed the chat's "apparent authenticity." That Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Goldberg a "deceitful and highly discredited so-called 'journalist' who's made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again." On March 25, Trump told reporters, "There was no classified information, as I understand it," and Hegseth said "nobody's texting war plans." On March 26, after two days of denials, The Atlantic published the full transcript. It showed Hegseth giving the types of military aircraft and the timing of the strikes. NBC News reported that the texts did not include information about specific targets. That day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X that "The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT 'war plans'" and called the story "another hoax." At an executive order signing, Trump said, "I think it's all a witch hunt." Trump's own remarks used "witch hunt," not "fake news," and the "hoax" wording came from Leavitt and Hegseth. NBC News reported that some administration officials focused on The Atlantic's change from "war plans" to "attack plans." The officials' public statements disputed the "war plans" and "classified" labels. None of the cited pages shows them disputing that the messages were authentic. In December 2025, about nine months after the first denials, the Pentagon Inspector General (IG) found that Hegseth had sent "sensitive, nonpublic, operational information" over Signal. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the review a "TOTAL exoneration," and Leavitt said it showed "no classified information was leaked."

  • Axios article
    The newly disclosed messages include a text from Hegseth with specific times and sequencing of planned U.S. strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
  • ABC News article
    "The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT 'war plans,'" Leavitt wrote. "This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin."
  • NBC News article
    "I think it’s all a witch hunt," he said. "That’s all. I think it’s a witch hunt. I wasn’t involved with it."

Sources: Axios reliable · ABC News reliable · NBC News reliable · factcheck.org reliable

Sep 2020 – Oct 2023 "Losers" and "suckers" report (The Atlantic, 2020) → John Kelly's confirmation (2023)

The Atlantic reported, citing four people with firsthand knowledge, that Trump asked "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers" when he cancelled a 2018 visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. It also reported that he called the Marines who died at Belleau Wood "suckers." On Sept. 3, 2020, Trump tweeted that he "never called our great fallen soldiers anything other than HEROES," calling the story "more made up Fake News." On Oct. 2, 2023, his former chief of staff, John Kelly, said in a statement to CNN that Trump hadn't wanted to visit the cemetery because it was filled with "suckers" and "losers." Kelly also backed several other incidents in the 2020 report. About three years and one month passed between the denial and Kelly's confirmation. The Trump campaign responded that Kelly had "totally clowned himself with these debunked stories he's made up."

  • cbsnews.com article
    I never called our great fallen soldiers anything other than HEROES. This is more made up Fake News given by disgusting & jealous failures in a disgraceful attempt to influence the 2020 Election!
  • NBC News article
    This report is false. President Trump holds the military in the highest regard.
  • Axios article
    John Kelly has totally clowned himself with these debunked stories he's made up because he didn't serve his President well while working as Chief of Staff.

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · NBC News reliable · Axios reliable

Jan 2018 – Feb 2018 Report that Trump ordered Mueller fired

On Jan. 25, 2018, the New York Times reported, citing four sources, that Trump had ordered Special Counsel Robert Mueller fired in June 2017. It said Trump backed down after White House counsel Don McGahn refused and threatened to quit. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos the next day, Trump called the report "Fake news, folks. Fake news." The Mueller report (Apr. 18, 2019) drew on McGahn's interviews with special counsel investigators. It describes two calls in which Trump told McGahn to have Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein remove Mueller ("Mueller has to go"). It also says Trump later pressed McGahn to deny the story, and McGahn refused. The report said Trump's denials were "contrary to the evidence." One part of the Times account did not match the report. McGahn decided to resign rather than carry out the order, but according to the report he never told Trump he planned to quit, and Trump did not follow up on the directive. On April 25, 2019, after the report came out, Trump wrote on Twitter, "As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so." That is 447 days from the Davos denial to the report.

  • cbsnews.com article
    Fake news, folks. Fake news. Typical New York Times fake stories.
  • The Washington Post article
    As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller
  • NBC News article
    Mueller wrote that Trump's denials were "contrary to the evidence and suggest the President's awareness that the direction to McGahn could be seen as improper."
  • cbsnews.com article
    McGahn had not told Mr. Trump he planned to resign, and when he next spoke to Mr. Trump, the president did not follow up on his directive.

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · rollcall.com reliable · The Washington Post reliable · NBC News reliable

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