Reporters push back on Trump claim that senior White House official doesn’t exist

Reporters hit Twitter on Saturday to call out President Trump for claiming that a senior White House official quoted in reports “doesn’t exist.”

The comments come in response to Trump’s tweet attacking The New York Times for quoting an anonymous White House official saying that the now-canceled summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is unlikely to occur on the originally planned date.

{mosads}Many reporters turned to Twitter to defend the source, tweeting that the official in question does indeed exist and held an in-person background briefing about the summit on Thursday.

“The ball is in North Korea’s court right now. There’s really not a lot of time. We’ve lost quite a bit of time that we would need,” the official said at the time.

“This is a ridiculous lie about the Times,” said Daniel Dale, a Toronto Star White House correspondent. “The senior White House official is not only real – the official said June 12 was extremely unlikely *at an in-person White House briefing to the media* on Thursday.”

This is a ridiculous lie about the Times. The senior White House official is not only real – the official said June 12 was extremely unlikely *at an in-person White House briefing to the media* on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/XL3PB9hYdY

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 26, 2018

Several reporters pointed out that the official made the comment during a background briefing that was held in person and on a conference call.

The reason that this official was not named in our story is that the White House press office insisted that its briefing — for hundreds of reporters — was on background. Best way to alleviate the President’s concern about anonymous sources would be for WH to name the official. https://t.co/dTKNTbGzJR

— David Sanger (@SangerNYT) May 26, 2018

Trump told two demonstrable falsehoods this AM, one about his administration’s policy of separating undocumented immigrant kids inclu infants from their parents, which he tried to claim wasn’t his own policy. The other was falsely claiming his own aide didn’t give a bg briefing.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 26, 2018

Imagine being the WH background briefer who led this briefing, who now has his boss – the president of the US – saying he/she doesn’t exist. https://t.co/6tYHxp3ZFK

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 26, 2018

.@realDonaldTrump is slamming the @nytimes for citing a senior White House official “who doesn’t exist,” but the portion of the article he appears to be referring to directly cites comments made at a background briefing the White House held for the whole press corps Thursday. pic.twitter.com/xVtZ1J4hPX

— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) May 26, 2018

“I mean, every reporter on the call knows who this official was, and this official exists,” said Weekly Standard reporter Michael Warren. “And we all heard the official say it.”

I mean, every reporter on the call knows who this official was, and this official exists. And we all heard the official say it. https://t.co/iEiTEpHeyb

— Mike Warren (@MichaelRWarren) May 26, 2018

Some reporters who were apparently not on the call or present at the meeting identified the official as Matthew Pottinger, a senior adviser on the National Security Council.

The official is Matt Pottinger who serves on the National Security Council. He briefed dozens of reporters on background. https://t.co/5FUP7t8nYQ

— Yashar Ali (@yashar) May 26, 2018

FYI, Matthew Pottinger is NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs, @POTUS. Ask for a transcript of the briefing, done in the White House with the press office’s approval. https://t.co/ivnZD7mliB

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) May 26, 2018

Trump was referring specifically to a New York Times report that quoted a “senior White House official” saying that the U.S.-North Korea summit cannot take place on the originally planned date because of the lack of time for necessary planning after Trump canceled the meeting.

Trump told reporters on Friday that he and Kim could still possibly meet on June 12.

Trump lashed out at the Times over the report, saying that they were “WRONG AGAIN!” and that they should “use real people, not phony sources.”

He has previously criticized reports that cite anonymous sources, calling them “made up.”

The Failing @nytimes quotes “a senior White House official,” who doesn’t exist, as saying “even if the meeting were reinstated, holding it on June 12 would be impossible, given the lack of time and the amount of planning needed.” WRONG AGAIN! Use real people, not phony sources.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018