White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that the New York Times has “harassed” the Trump administration with its coverage of a Tomahawk missile strike near an Iranian elementary school that killed 175 people, many of them children.
A reporter on Tuesday pressed Leavitt on the topic during a White House press briefing, asking why Trump claimed during a Monday exchange with a Times reporter that Iran had obtained a Tomahawk. Leavitt repeated Trump’s claim on Monday that he would accept the results of the Department of Defense’s investigation, while asserting that the president “has a right to share his opinions with the American public.”
“He has said he’ll accept the conclusion of that investigation,” Leavitt said. “And frankly, we’re not going to be harassed by the New York Times —who has been putting out a lot of articles on this, making claims that have just not been verified by the Department of War — to quickly wrap up this investigation because the New York Times is calling on us to do so.”
A Times spokesperson did not respond to an immediate request for comment. The paper has published a series of reports that indicate a U.S. Tomahawk hit the Iranian school during a Feb. 28 strike on a naval base next to it.
The response came a day after Trump told Times reporter Shawn McCreesh during a Monday press conference that he believed Iran obtained a Tomahawk missile to carry out the strike, though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said his agency was still investigating the issue.
“You’re the only person in your government saying this,” McCreesh said. “Even your defense secretary wouldn’t say that when he was asked standing over your shoulder on your plane on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this?”
“I just don’t know enough about it,” Trump responded. “I think it’s something that, I was told, is under investigation, but Tomahawks are used by others. As you know, numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us, but I will certainly — whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report.”
The U.S. is one of three countries to possess the missiles and the only one to use them on the day of the strike, according to the Times.
