The White House is now reportedly pushing back forcefully against a report suggesting Iran may have planned drone strikes against the U.S. West Coast, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt demanding that ABC News retract the story and accusing the network of spreading alarm based on unverified intelligence.
The dispute centers on a report referencing an FBI alert circulated in late February to California authorities. The bulletin described information suggesting that Iran might aspire to launch a surprise drone attack from a vessel positioned off the U.S. coast if American strikes against Iran occurred.
According to the alert reviewed by ABC News, the intelligence indicated that Iran allegedly hoped to carry out a strike using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified ship near the American homeland. Potential targets were described only as “unspecified targets in California.”
However, the alert itself also made clear that the information was incomplete.
“We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack,” the bulletin said.
The FBI alert further noted that the information was unverified.
Despite that qualification, Leavitt argued the ABC News report failed to properly convey the uncertainty surrounding the tip and instead risked unnecessarily alarming Americans.
In a statement Thursday, the press secretary called on the network to correct the record immediately.
“This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people,” Leavitt wrote.
She said the report was built on a single message sent to local law enforcement officials in California and emphasized that the information contained in the alert had not been confirmed.
“They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip,” Leavitt said.
She also criticized the report for not clearly highlighting that the intelligence itself was uncertain.
“The email even states the tip was based on unverified intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story,” she added.
Leavitt went further, insisting that no such threat to the United States currently exists.
“To be clear: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” she said.
After the criticism from the White House, ABC News updated the story and added an editor’s note acknowledging the fuller context of the FBI alert.
The update explained that the bureau had posted a more complete version of its bulletin to California authorities, including the clarification that the information referenced in the alert was unverified. The network said the story had been revised to include the full statement.
The report and subsequent response unfolded against the backdrop of rising tensions linked to the ongoing conflict involving Iran.
Speaking on CNN’s Inside Politics, host Dana Bash noted that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had been informed about the intelligence but that state officials were not treating it as an imminent threat.
“California governor Gavin Newsom says he’s been alerted about the unverified claims, but that there’s no imminent threat,” Bash said.
At the same time, she pointed to comments reportedly attributed to Iran’s new supreme leader warning that American interests could face attacks on “other fronts” if the conflict continues.
“That’s pretty scary stuff,” Bash said, adding that even unverified information can spark concern among the public when tensions between nations are already high.
“I mean, never mind the politics of it. Just the sort of human response here in America,” she said.
Meanwhile, FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Ben Williamson shared what appeared to be a screenshot of the original bulletin. The image included the word “unverified,” underscoring the uncertain nature of the intelligence referenced in the alert.
The episode highlights the delicate balance between reporting potential threats and avoiding unnecessary panic during periods of heightened international tension, when rumors and fragments of intelligence can quickly become national headlines.
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