White House rips CNN for broadcasting statement from Iran leader

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The Hill's Headlines — March 13, 2026

The Hill's Headlines — March 13, 2026

The White House and several Trump administration officials are blasting CNN over the network’s coverage of ongoing U.S. military operations in Iran and its broadcasting of statements from the country’s new supreme leader.  

On Thursday, the network broadcast a statement issued through Iranian state media from Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in which he vowed to keep up attacks on other Arab countries in the region and to choke off the world’s oil supply. 

“Fake news CNN just aired four straight minutes of uninterrupted Iranian state TV, run by the same psychotic and murderous regime that prided itself on brutally slaughtering Americans for 47 years,” the White House wrote in one social media post.  

Several other news outlets also covered Khamenei’s remarks and treated them as breaking news. CNN showed a news anchor reading a portion of Khamenei remarks in Farsi with an English translation and did not air them in full.  

White House communications director Steven Cheung, earlier this week, blasted a CNN segment which he argued was sympathetic to the Iranian regime.  

“Ever notice how CNN just regurgitates quotes and unverified information from Iranian terrorists? Total disgrace,” Cheung wrote. “They have become the murderous Iranian Regime’s version of Pravda.” 

The administration’s pushback on CNN comes amid increasing tensions between the cable news channel and allies of the president as the war stretches into a third weekend.  

“Fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during the press briefing at the Pentagon. “CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”  

CNN, in a statement to The Hill on Friday, said “it stands by” its reporting. 

Hegseth was referring to the recently announced deal for Paramount, the massive media conglomerate owned by Larry and David Ellison, to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns CNN.  

Trump has for years sparred with CNN over its coverage of him, and in recent months expressed a desire to see the cable news channel operate under new leadership.  

The Ellison family has taken heat from Democrats and media watchdogs since it took over at Paramount over an effort to retool CBS News’ editorial strategy and serve what David Ellison has described as a more politically “diverse” audience.  

Ellison has separately promised CNN will maintain its editorial independence under Paramount.  

Last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sparred with Kaitlan Collins, a top host at the network, over the outlet’s coverage of U.S. service members who have died as a result of the ongoing fighting in the Middle East. 

The Associated Press contributed.

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