White House cited its own official's remarks as 'misinformation' in court filing defending Politico ban

The Trump White House cited its own official's remarks as "misinformation" in a court filing defending its ban of Politico from White House grounds, according to a Washington Post report. The administration revoked Politico's press passes last week and used the letter in a Tuesday response to a lawsuit from CNN, MSNBC, and Politico. The White House letter accused Politico of breaking professional standards by relying on unnamed sources and publishing false or classified national security information, specifically citing a June 2026 article about Iran peace talks. However, the Post reported the quoted "senior administration official" spoke on a White House-hosted press call where reporters were instructed to attribute remarks to that title. The official's prediction of an 80-85 percent chance of a preliminary Iran deal proved accurate days later when an agreement was announced. The White House and Politico did not respond to the Post's requests for comment.