Iran’s embassy in South Africa has promoted a claim linking Karoline Leavitt’s resignation as White House press secretary to a reported deception involving President Donald Trump’s departure from Turkey.
The Iranian Embassy in South Africa posted a photograph of Leavitt on X and celebrated her resignation while tying it to the reported Air Force One deception. Because of a threat, trump later confirmed that security and military officials wanted him to use a different aircraft. A number of officials, aides and journalists remained on the original aircraft, which subsequently flew toward Britain . The unusual operation prompted questions about the decision to leave others aboard the plane that had reportedly been considered unsafe for the president.
But the claim is not supported by the available evidence, and the White House has said Leavitt was not on the flight involved in the episode. Trump said he understood and respected her decision and said she would remain an outside adviser. Trump initially planned to leave Turkey on the older aircraft but was secretly moved using a catering truck after US intelligence officials identified what authorities considered a credible threat involving Iran, according to reporting cited by Forbes.
Leavitt announced on Wednesday that she would leave her post at the end of August, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family and could not give her two young children the time she believed they deserved while handling the demands of the press secretary’s job.
The White House told Snopes that the claim was false and that Leavitt was not on the trip, according to the Forbes report.
