President Donald Trump fired off a seething threat against CNN Tuesday night in response to its reporting Iran had claimed a "great victory" over the U.S. following the president's announcement to delay his ceasefire deadline by two weeks.
Trump had originally given Iran until 8 p.m. ET Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning a refusal would mean a "whole civilization will die."
Around 90 minutes before that deadline, Trump and the White House released statements saying the U.S. and Iran had agreed to negotiate an end to hostilities that would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the suspension of fighting for two weeks.
Following the announcement, CNN published a post to its online live blog detailing the Iranian response.
"Iran says it has achieved a great victory and forced the United States to accept its 10-point plan, according to a statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council report by Iranian state media," the post read.
Trump then lashed out on Truth Social, threatening to investigate CNN for committing "a crime" and accusing the outlet of knowingly publishing incorrect statements.
"The alleged Statement put out by CNN World News is a FRAUD, as CNN well knows. The false Statement was linked to a Fake News site (from Nigeria) and, of course, immediately picked up by CNN, and blared out as a 'legitimate' headline," Trump wrote, saying he had shared the actual statement released by Iran below his post.
The president ordered the outlet to remove the reporting and threatened an investigation into CNN. Trump has no say or control over what CNN, a private business, chooses to publish.
"Authorities are looking to determine whether or not a crime was committed on the issuance of the Fake CNN World Statement, or was it a sick rogue player? CNN is being ordered to immediately withdraw this Statement with full apologies for their, as usual, terrible 'reporting,' Trump said. "Results of the investigation will be announced in the near future."
Federal Communications Commission head Brendan Carr then said in a social media post that it was "time for change" at CNN.
"More outrageous conduct from CNN. Fake news is bad enough for the country, but pushing out a hoax headline in such a sensitive national security moment as this requires accountability," Carr said. "Iran put out an official statement that simply cannot be squared with the one CNN's false headline attributes to them. Time for change at CNN."
Carr has faced backlash after threatening broadcasters’ licenses over Iran war coverage. Cable networks such as CNN are not licensed and do not fall under Carr’s crusade.
In response to Carr's tweet, CNN released its own statement defending its reporting.
"The statement in question was obtained by CNN from Iranian officials and reported on multiple Iranian state media outlets. We received the statement from specific official Iranian spokespeople who are known to us," the statement said.
The Trump administration has done little to hide its contempt for CNN. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said last month that he was looking forward to the Trump-friendly David Ellison taking over CNN.
"The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better," Hegseth said after complaining about the network's coverage of the Iran war. Paramount Skydance, which is controlled by Ellison, has entered into a $110 deal to buy Warner Brothers, which is the parent company of CNN.
Billionaire Ellison also owns the parent company that controls CBS News and oversaw the installation of Bari Weiss at its helm.
CNN was not the only news organization to report Iran was claiming victory over the U.S. The New York Times posted a similarly worded message on its live blog, citing Iran's National Security Council.
"Iran's National Security Council said in a statement that Iran had been victorious and congratulated the people of Iran for their defiance in the five-week war with the United States and Israel and said the United States had accepted all of Iran's 10-point peace plan, including guarantees to not attack Iran, Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz and repatriation for financial losses," the post read, also noting that Trump had only said he was willing to discuss the 10-point plan, not that he had accepted it.
The NYT also shared a quote it attributed to the council congratulating the Iranian people on their "victory" over the U.S.
"We congratulate all the people of Iran on this victory and emphasize that until the details of this victory are finalized, steadfastness and prudence from officials and the preservation of unity and solidarity among the Iranian people remain essential," the council said.
Drop Site News published what it said was the full, translated text of the Iranian National Security Council's statement, which also included the line "we congratulate all the people of Iran on this victory..."
Trump wasn't the only one in his administration lashing out at media figures for framing the ceasefire talks as a victory for Iran.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung had a meltdown on X after leftist writer Owen Jones said that Trump accepting Iran's 10-point plan would be "the biggest strategic defeat suffered by the U.S. since its emergence as a superpower."
"You have no idea what the f*** you’re talking about you loser. Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of because you clearly can’t read," Cheung replied.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement definitively declaring Trump as the victor.
“This is a victory for the United States that President Trump and our incredible military made happen,” she wrote on X. “Never underestimate President Trump’s ability to successfully advance America’s interests and broker peace.”
Iran's statement on Tuesday night acknowledging that it was willing to go to the table with the U.S. included a line saying that Trump agreed to use the 10-point plan as a "basis of negotiation."
Despite the White House's efforts to control the narrative on Tuesday night, the three major U.S. cable news networks openly debated which nation, if any, could be considered a victor, according to Mediaite.
On CNN, anchor Erin Burnett said that Trump "backed down."
“Literally at the 11th hour, Trump backing down after threatening that a, quote, ‘whole civilization will die tonight never to be brought back again,'” Burnett said. “Horrific and unacceptable words — which, just moments ago, at the 11th hour before his deadline, Trump now has essentially rescinded.”
MS NOW's Symone Sanders-Townsend had a similar take, saying that Trump "caved."
Fox News' Laura Ingraham didn't agree. She claimed to have spoken with Trump on the phone moments before she went on air and told her viewers she believed it was Iran that "blinked."
Trump, in his ceasefire announcement, insisted that Iran had agreed "to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz."
The Associated Press later reported that a "regional official" was claiming Iran will continue charging tolls for cargo ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz with funds to be used for "reconstruction."
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