The White House defended President Donald Trump's Politico ban in court by citing a story built on quotes from its own official.
According to a Wednesday article by The Washington Post, the Trump administration accused Politico of spreading "misinformation" with a report that relied on information that came from a White House official.
"The spread of misinformation, especially relating to national security, is a threat that undermines the President's ability to safeguard the national security," the White House wrote in a letter to Politico. The letter was then used by the Trump administration on Tuesday to respond to a lawsuit by CNN, MS NOW and Politico seeking to undo Trump's media ban.
The letter was one of three the government submitted to justify barring the outlets from the White House grounds. The administration revoked Politico's press passes last week. The letter accused Politico of breaking professional standards, including by relying on unnamed sources and publishing false or classified national security information.
Among Politico's six alleged offenses was a June article about the push to end the war with Iran.
"In June 2026, Politico cited a 'senior administration official...granted anonymity' said the odds of a preliminary deal to end the conflict with Iran were between 80 and 85 percent," the White House letter reads, per The Washington Post.
"Publication of sensitive security information, and misinformation about national security information, diverts White House resources and those of the national security team in particular," the letter continues.
But the official was speaking with the White House's blessing. According to an invitation and a recording reviewed by The Post, the quote came from a press call the Trump administration hosted, where reporters were told to credit a "senior administration official."
A White House aide said at the start of the call, "The contents of this call are on background, attributable to a senior administration official. By remaining on the line, you agree to those terms." The Post reported the contents of the call based on a recording.
After the aide laid out the ground rules, a senior administration official described the odds that were quoted by Politico.
"I think the second thing is we do expect to be signing this agreement over the next few days," the official said. "I can't give you an exact date. And if I were to give you a confidence that we were going to be finding this agreement, I maybe would have said 75 percent this morning. It's probably more like 80, 85 percent now, but it's not 100 percent."
The forecast held up as the United States and Iran announced an agreement days later, The Post noted. The White House did not respond to The Post's request for comment, nor did Politico.
