‘Unconscionable’: Trump uses press and his own staff as decoys amid Iran threat
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What did Donald Trump announce about White House press secretary Caroline Levitt’s departure?
Hey everybody, it's Rachel Matto here. Forgive me popping in deer feed like this, but I wanted to tell you that more than a dozen of us from MSNow are gonna be in Texas on Saturday, September 26th. I'm gonna be there, Lawrence O'Donnell will be there, so will Jen Saki and Stephanie Rule and Ali Velshi and Chris Hayes and Jacob Soboroff and Simone Sanders Townsend and and and a whole bunch of us are all gonna be there in Texas. Tickets start at just over 30 bucks. It's in Arlington, just outside Dallas. There's a ton to do there. If you come, you'll get to meet all of us. You'll also get to meet everybody else there, all these other great people from our great MS Now community. We'd love to see you. And if you buy a ticket to the Texas event, you will get access to our new MS Now membership free for a year.
We're really excited about it. It launches later this summer. You'll be able to talk with me, talk with some of the other hosts. But tickets for Texas are on sale now. learn more at ms.nail slash together. Hope to see you in Texas.
Okay, everyone, we are back with a what I'm gonna call a supersized edition of the briefing. Lawrence O'Donnell, the great Lawrence O'Donnell, happens to be off tonight, but he plans to be back tomorrow. I promise all of you, Lawrence O'Donnell, super fans, of which I am one as well. But we're gonna begin this hour with a high-profile exit from the White House. Today, Donald Trump announced that at the end of the month, Caroline Levitt is Leaving her role as White House press secretary. Just after 3 p.m., Trump announced the news on social media, saying in part, our wonderful White House press secretary and one of my most trusted aides, Caroline Levitt, will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect.
And Caroline Levitt finished out her tenure in that role. Doing what she has always done best, lying on behalf of her boss, with the only audience being her boss. Here she was on Fox News earlier this week.
Thanks to President Trump and Republicans and common sense policies across the board. Our country is safer, our country is more affordable.
Now, I guess that was one last parting gift to Donald Trump. A lie that was As easily disprovable as any lie she has ever told. I mean Groceries, gas, rent, seemingly everything more expensive under Donald Trump. But Trump doesn't need his press secretary to mislead the public for him, because he's happy to do that himself, nearly every time he opens his mouth. I mean, here he was in his first public comments last night after the Washington Post first broke the news that he secretly switched planes in Turkey following a credible threat from Iran.
Mr President, can you tell us about your ride on the airport catering truck in Turkey? Why did you need to do that? Well it's only uh up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do. So uh I go by Secret Service uh and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, uh equal safety, but they wanted me to do it so I do it. I do what they say. Why did they why did they do that? I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats. Were you
surprised, Mr. President, that the Secret Service was telling you to take that third plane?
No, not surprised. I have a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don't know about. Any consequential president has a lot of threats. Non-consequential presidents don't get threatened. And I think that I'm maybe the most consequential president.
We are still learning more, seemingly every hour, about exactly what happened during the secret plane swap. And I still have a lot of questions, I'm sure you do. Now I mentioned this last hour when I was speaking with Senator John Osoff, citing multiple officials, the Washington Post is reporting that the intelligence that led to the plane swap came from Israel. And the reporting says: quote, ultimately the White House and the Secret Service.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What did Donald Trump announce about White House press secretary Caroline Levitt’s departure?
0:00–5:31
2
How did the secret plane swap in Turkey unfold and why was it considered a safety move?
5:31–11:07
3
What does the Washington Post reporting reveal about CIA confidence in the Iranian threat?
11:07–17:29
4
Why does President Trump claim the United States has total control over the Strait of Hormuz?
17:29–22:20
5
What are the facts behind the recent traffic data for the Strait of Hormuz?
22:20–29:22
6
Why is Donald Trump’s executive order on childhood vaccines considered dangerous by health experts?
29:22–35:20
7
What is the new lawsuit alleging Trump’s sale of early‑access political information?
35:20–41:15
8
How are the upcoming Wisconsin elections shaping the 2026 midterm outlook?
41:15–44:49
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Briefing with Jen Psaki
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How we know Donald Trump is freaking out about his disastrous poll numbers
Psaki lays waste to bogus GOP talking points on press freedom
Psaki: Trump can't hide by attacking the free press
Alarming new disclosures highlight dangers of A.I. as Trump turns his back on regulation