Karoline Leavitt refutes claims Trump admin failed to brief on Iran strikes

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spared neither Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., nor CNN on Monday for claiming that the Trump administration failed to adequately brief lawmakers prior to launching “Operation Midnight Hammer” against key Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend.

“We did make bipartisan calls,” Leavitt insisted during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” 

“Thomas Massie… he should be a Democrat because he’s more aligned with them than with the Republican Party. [Both] were given notice,” she added.

Leavitt’s remarks came after the Kentucky lawmaker told CBS News on Sunday that the Trump administration failed to brief members of Congress prior to striking Iran on Saturday and argued that Congress should have spent time debating the War Powers Resolution brought forth by himself and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. 

SCHIFF CONDEMNS TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES, SUGGESTS ONLY POSITIVE IS SETBACK OF NUCLEAR PROGRAM

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized both Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and CNN on Monday. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

After the strikes, Massie also took to X to respond to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who insisted the president “made the right call” in light of the “imminent danger” America faced.

“Why didn’t you call us back from vacation to vote on military action if there was a serious threat to our country?” Massie fired back, drawing ire from Trump.

Massie’s office, when reached for comment on Trump’s recent criticism of his allegedly anti-MAGA stance, directed Fox News Digital to a recent X post which read, “[Donald Trump] declared so much War on me today it should require an Act of Congress. #sassywithmassie.”

Leavitt also homed in on a CNN story that claimed Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, were not briefed on Trump’s Iran strikes, while many top Republican lawmakers were.

The story previously caught her attention, leading her to demand that the outlet make a retraction.

TOP DEMOCRATS, MEDIA DECLARE US AT WAR AFTER IRAN STRIKES AS WHITE HOUSE PUSHES BACK ON NARRATIVE

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is seen outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“The White House made calls to congressional leadership. They were bipartisan calls. In fact, Hakeem Jeffries couldn’t be reached. We tried him before the strike, and he didn’t pick up the phone, but he was briefed after, as well as Chuck Schumer was briefed prior to the strike. So this notion that CNN ran with at the White House did not give a heads up to Democrats is just completely false.”

CNN did not respond to Fox News Digital’s previous request for comment on the matter. The outlet added a correction to the story to include accurate timing.

Fox News Digital previously contacted Schumer and Jeffries’ offices for comment. 

Both lawmakers released statements over the weekend condemning Trump for the attack and for not seeking congressional approval prior to acting, but both fell short of claiming they were not briefed or notified before the actual strike.

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In his statement, Schumer said, “No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy.”

Jeffries, meanwhile, wrote in part, “Donald Trump promised to bring peace to the Middle East. He has failed to deliver on that promise. The risk of war has now dramatically increased, and I pray for the safety of our troops in the region who have been put in harm’s way.

“President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.”

He finished by saying Trump has the “heavy burden” of explaining to the American people why the unilateral action was undertaken.

Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.