White House goes berserk at 'fraud' Pulitzer-winning reporter's Air Force One swap story

[LetMyPeopleVote]

trump is really mad at anyone criticizing the Qatari plane and threw a fit on Friday. Now the White House is attacking anyone who reports on trump's fits.

White House top spokesman Steven Cheung wrote on X that "Carol Leonnig is a liar and this article is complete Fake News," referring to an MS NOW report that Trump abandoned his Qatari-gifted jet on the flight from the NATO summit to the UK over security concerns tied to escalating strikes on Iran.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-07-09T19:00:20.729Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-air-force-one-2677199156/

The White House's top spokesman went after one of the reporters behind a story on President Donald Trump's abrupt Air Force One switch, branding her a liar and questioning whether she even counts as a journalist.

Communications director Steven Cheung, known for his fiery outbursts, wrote on X that "Carol Leonnig is a liar and this article is complete Fake News," referring to an MS NOW report that said Trump abandoned his Qatari-gifted jet on the flight from the NATO summit in Turkey to the United Kingdom over security concerns tied to escalating strikes on Iran.

"She has no idea what she is talking about. She says the White House declined to comment. Not true. We gave comment to the New York Times and many other outlets. Carol is not a real journalist. A complete fraud," Cheung railed.....

Leonnig is a longtime investigative reporter and multiple Pulitzer Prize winner whose byline ran on the report alongside Priya Sridhar and Ken Dilanian.

The story Cheung attacked said Trump flew home on the original Air Force One because the retrofitted Qatari plane lacks secure communications and missile defenses. An MS NOW panel separately picked apart the shifting explanations for the swap.

[The Blue Flower]

1. Cheung is lying as always

A disgusting creature.

[sheshe2]

2. Oh FFS!

Give the baby his binkie and tell him to suck on it!

[underpants]

3. God, just ignore it and move on.

[tanyev]

4. Didn't they issue subpoenas to investigate NYT reporters' sources for that "Fake News"?

[Sneederbunk]

5. Oddjob no like.

[struggle4progress]

6. So, what happened? Donnie Demento wandered off in a senior moment and got on the wrong plane?

Or the wheels started falling off the Qatari jet? Or ... ?

[liberalgunwilltravel]

7. Cheung will be one of the many

Whose head separates from his body when he is hung after the Nuremberg II trials.

[erronis]

9. Not sure he has that part of an anatomy called a "neck" for which to attach the rope.

It might be more of excising the abscess atop its shoulders.

[Botany]

8. So what part of the story was wrong?

Did Trump abandon his Qatar Bribe jet
in Turkey?

Yes

Did he take the old Air Force One home?

Yes

Was that done out of security concerns dealing with the Qatar gift/bribe jet?

Yes

[DET]

10. I think the story...

…that we’re supposed to believe but no sane person would, is that Trump was putting the new plane on display for the troops to enjoy - not that there were significant safety deficiencies on the new plane as the result of the ridiculous rush job that Trump insisted on. I guess it doesn’t look great that Trump blew half a billion taxpayer dollars on a refurbished plane that is effectively nonfunctional. So Trump is doing what he always does - blame the person reporting on his failure.