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  "path": "/news/1982243/trump-administration-slams-cnn-over-iran-war-coverage",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-15T03:10:34.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "World"
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  "textContent": "**• Pete Hegseth calls reporting ‘patently ridiculous’**\n**• Thompson says network will keep reporting ‘the truth’**\n\nWASHINGTON: The Pentagon and White House slammed _CNN_ over its Iran war coverage on Friday — with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth saying he looked forward to an ally of President Donald Trump taking over the news network.\n\nHegseth spent part of a news conference on US military operations against Tehran criticising the media and _CNN_ in particular, urging for what he called an “actual patriotic press”.\n\nThe former _Fox News_ host was particularly incensed by a story the channel ran suggesting Washington had underestimated Iran’s ability to disrupt global oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.\n\n“Patently ridiculous,” Hegseth told reporters, before adding: “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.” David Ellison is the head of Paramount Skydance, which is set to complete a landmark takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, the current owner of _CNN_ , after beating Netflix in a bidding war.\n\nEarlier this month Ellison vowed to protect _CNN’s_ editorial independence.\n\nHis father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, largely financed the takeover and is also a longtime ally and financial backer of President Donald Trump.\n\nThe White House also blasted the _CNN_ story on the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the world oil trade.\n\n“This story is 100 per cent FAKE NEWS,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.\n\n“The Pentagon has been planning for Iran’s desperate and reckless closure of the Strait of Hormuz for DECADES, and it has been part of the Trump Administration’s planning well before Operation Epic Fury was ever launched,” Leavitt said.\n\n> \n\nIn response, _CNN_ chief Mark Thompson said that “our only interest is in telling the truth to our audiences in the US and around the world and no amount of political threats or insults is going to change that”.\n\nTrump himself has frequently lashed out at _CNN_ reporters, particularly anchor Kaitlan Collins, whom he scolded in February for failing to “smile” when she was asking him a question about the victims of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.\n\n_Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2026_",
  "title": "Trump administration slams CNN over Iran war coverage"
}