International • News • Opinons

Newsweek Fires Reporter Who Wrote Inaccurate Story on Trump’s Thanksgiving Day Plans

The Newsweek reporter who wrote an inaccurate story about President Trump’s Thanksgiving Day plans has been fired. The outlet’s original story claimed the president only planned on tweeting and golfing during his holiday break, neglecting to mention his trip to Afghanistan.

Newsweek’s Jessica Kwong, whose Twitter handle identifies her as a political reporter “covering Trump administration and family,” initially published the article Thursday morning, before the president’s trip to Afghanistan was announced publicly. The story’s initial headline was, “How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing and more.”


It took 3 months to get inside this massive Texas data center — here’s what we saw
National Guard member shot in DC, police chief says
Epstein-linked billionaire pours $500K into super PAC backing Kentucky Democrat: ‘Dirty Epstein-class money’
Firefighters save historic ‘Godfather’ church from raging NYC warehouse blaze
Arizona man accused of plotting mass casualty attack on religious site with ‘cookbook’ tied to OKC bombing
Massachusetts GOP ticket rocked by alleged drunken crash as candidate abruptly halts campaign
Trump unveils plan to transform historic DC golf course as judge tees off
How 1 Single Gun Magazine Could Soon Lead SCOTUS to Upend How Judges Sentence Criminals
Trump Officials May Soon Unleash Blacklisted Tankers to Cut Record Shipping Costs
New Jersey City’s Firearm Permitting Process Is so ‘Egregious’ the Trump DOJ Is Now Launching an Investigation: Report
Heroic Taco Bell Worker Thwarts Would-Be Mass Shooter Who Targeted Place of Worship: Report
Gun Store Owner Uses His Own Truck as a Barricade to Foil Robbers Ram-Raiding Plot
Alleged Machete-Armed Bus Attacker Simply Walks Away to Escape ‘Home Detention’
Army Moves to Arm Forces with South Korean Weapon as Old US Counterparts Age Out
America’s Housing Market Strained Near Breaking Point: Foreclosures Rise, Buyers Retreat


“Newsweek investigated the failures that led to the publication of the inaccurate report that President Trump spent Thanksgiving tweeting and golfing rather than visiting troops in Afghanistan,” a Newsweek representative told the Washington Examiner. “The story has been corrected, and the journalist responsible has been terminated. We will continue to review our processes and, if required, take further action.”

Hours after the president’s trip was announced, Newsweek edited Kwong’s story and added a note at the bottom of it. The beginning of the story now focuses on the president’s trip and his speech to the troops, while the new headline reads, “How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing — and surprising U.S. troops in Afghanistan.”

The note at the end of the story reads, “This story has been substantially updated and edited at 6:17 p.m. EST to reflect the president’s surprise trip to Afghanistan. Additional reporting by James Crowley.”


It took 3 months to get inside this massive Texas data center — here’s what we saw
National Guard member shot in DC, police chief says
Epstein-linked billionaire pours $500K into super PAC backing Kentucky Democrat: ‘Dirty Epstein-class money’
Firefighters save historic ‘Godfather’ church from raging NYC warehouse blaze
Arizona man accused of plotting mass casualty attack on religious site with ‘cookbook’ tied to OKC bombing
Massachusetts GOP ticket rocked by alleged drunken crash as candidate abruptly halts campaign
Trump unveils plan to transform historic DC golf course as judge tees off
How 1 Single Gun Magazine Could Soon Lead SCOTUS to Upend How Judges Sentence Criminals
Trump Officials May Soon Unleash Blacklisted Tankers to Cut Record Shipping Costs
New Jersey City’s Firearm Permitting Process Is so ‘Egregious’ the Trump DOJ Is Now Launching an Investigation: Report
Heroic Taco Bell Worker Thwarts Would-Be Mass Shooter Who Targeted Place of Worship: Report
Gun Store Owner Uses His Own Truck as a Barricade to Foil Robbers Ram-Raiding Plot
Alleged Machete-Armed Bus Attacker Simply Walks Away to Escape ‘Home Detention’
Army Moves to Arm Forces with South Korean Weapon as Old US Counterparts Age Out
America’s Housing Market Strained Near Breaking Point: Foreclosures Rise, Buyers Retreat

Kwong addressed the update on social media tweeting, “Trump headed to Afghanistan to surprise U.S. troops on Thanksgiving https://newsweek.com/trump-thanksgi… Deleting this tweet because it was written before knowing about the president’s surprise visit to Afghanistan-an honest mistake. Story has already been updated, as shown in the screenshot.”

Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. both weighed in on the story on social media. “Fake news gonna fake!” Trump Jr. said in a tweet with a screen capture of Newsweek’s original headline. The president added, “I thought Newsweek was out of business?”

— —
UPDATE: Kwong put some of the blame for the story on her editor. Read more here.
— —

Story cited here.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter