The White House has given Politico 48 hours to retract three stories about Donald Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, or face "consequences". White House counsel Will Scharf sent the letter on Monday to Jonathan Greenberger, Politico's global editor-in-chief. The deadline runs out on Thursday.
Scharf wants the stories corrected or retracted, a public apology to Trump and Wiles, and the reporting deleted from Politico's online archives. If Politico refuses, he says the White House will review its relationship with the outlet and look at legal action. A White House official said all options are on the table.
On 15 October, Politico Playbook reported that Trump was considering replacing Wiles, and the next day that the report had set off a freakout inside the White House. A second story the same day said Wiles had helped set up the Fox News interview that went badly for press secretary Katie Zacharia before she left. The White House and Fox deny it. Trump called the first story fake news.
