Fact Check: Is Trump's allegation CNN misreported an Iranian statement and committed crime true?

WASHINGTON, DC: After announcing a ceasefire in the Iran war, US President Donald Trump accused CNN of publishing false information, claiming the network aired a “fake” Iranian statement and suggesting it may have committed a crime.

In posts on Truth Social, Trump alleged that CNN used a fabricated statement sourced from a fake news site and repeated his claim that the outlet misled the public. But did CNN actually publish a fake statement, and could this amount to a crime? Let’s fact-check the claim.

Claim: Trump posted twice, accusing CNN of using a fake statement

Trump posted twice on Truth Social, accusing CNN of using a fake statement from a Nigerian website and presenting it as real news.

In his first post, Trump called CNN’s report a “fraud” and claimed, "The alleged Statement put out by CNN World News is a FRAUD, as CNN well knows. The false Statement was linked to a Fake News site (from Nigeria) and, of course, immediately picked up by CNN, and blared out as a ‘legitimate’ headline."

He added, "The Official Statement by Iran was just released, and posted on TRUTH, below. Authorities are looking to determine whether or not a crime was committed on the issuance of the Fake CNN World Statement, or was it a sick rogue player?"

He concluded the post, "CNN is being ordered to immediately withdraw this Statement with full apologies for their, as usual, terrible ‘reporting.’ Results of the investigation will be announced in the near future. President DONALD J. TRUMP."

A few hours later, Trump posted again, repeating that CNN had shared a false and dangerous statement. He claimed, "No one can believe that Fake News CNN put out a knowingly false and dangerous statement pretending it came from the upper levels of the Iranian Government. It didn’t! It was totally made up and posted, as a headline, for purpose of, perhaps, inflaming a very delicate situation. It was a new, trouble making site from Nigeria, and CNN just got caught cheating - A very dangerous thing to do!"

CNN reported on a different statement that Donald Trump called “fake.” This longer statement, linked to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, explained details of a 10-point plan.

CNN’s headline said, "Iran claims victory, says it forced US to accept 10-point plan."

The White House account 'Rapid Response 47' also shared Trump’s claims on X, along with a screenshot of CNN’s report, calling the statement fake and asking for a correction.

Meanwhile, Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, supported Trump’s criticism and described CNN’s report as a “hoax headline.”

Fact Check: How credible is Trump’s claim about CNN’s report?

A CNN spokesperson said the statement in question came from official Iranian sources known to the network and was also reported by multiple Iranian state media outlets. The report appeared in a live blog covering the Iran war. Journalist Michael Rios, who wrote the post, said it was based on a statement from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council describing possible agreements with the US.

CNN also noted that Iranian officials released several statements, while Trump pointed to only one as the 'official' version. On air, CNN correspondent Matthew Chance said he confirmed the statement by contacting Iran’s foreign ministry, which provided a matching document. He said the network was confident the document was authentic.

Legal experts say it is unlikely CNN committed a crime. The US Constitution protects freedom of the press, and Trump did not specify any clear law that was broken. Mary-Rose Papandrea explained that defamation laws would not apply because the report did not harm the reputation of a specific person or group.

She also noted that under the New York Times v. Sullivan ruling, public officials must prove intentional or reckless false reporting to win a defamation case, something that does not appear to apply here. There is no clear evidence that CNN broke any law by publishing the report and publishing a fabricated story.