WASHINGTON — Allies of President Donald Trump are out absolutely nuking Politico over a smear job the German-owned publication printed on the president’s top peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, obliterating the place as it becomes known less as a news organization and more as a spot for failed deep state globalists to launder disinformation.
The latest screwup by Politico comes on Friday morning, when the outlet published an entirely anonymously-sourced screed against Witkoff after the latter’s recent successes on behalf of the president in moving towards a diplomatic end to Russia’s years-long war in Ukraine. Most of the anonymous sources in the Politico story are foreign, and the publication did not run quotes it was provided from top American diplomat Secretary of State Marco Rubio and butchered or ignored other quotes from top U.S. and even British officials provided on record to it ahead of time.
Trump, of course, recently held a major summit in Alaska with Russian president Vladimir Putin and then a couple days later hosted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and a bevy of European leaders at the White House to sketch out next steps. Since then, things have stalled a bit, but the hope according to Trump is that Putin and Zelensky will soon have a face-to-face meeting and then eventually a trilateral meeting that also includes Trump and the two warring parties’ leaders.
The Politico smear, which top White House officials and even the British government’s top official on national security matters make clear is fake, only quotes six anonymous sources attacking Witkoff as someone whose “inexperience shines through.” It’s a similar attack line to what globalists who like never-ending war have used against Witkoff in the past during his efforts to end wars in other parts of the world, but the amazing nature of this smear is the lengths to which Politico went to get Witkoff and withhold anything contradicting the fabricated narrative it printed.
It’s almost like Trump’s team knows just how weak this hit is, because the White House and top allies of the president are responding with the full force of a thousand suns–just obliterating the outlet over this nonsense.
In addition to all these brutal posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, several top Trump allies went on record with Breitbart News smashing Politico and defending Witkoff.
“The people criticizing Steve Witkoff from the cheap seats have never been in the arena doing diplomacy,” Ric Grenell, the former Director of National Intelligence in Trump’s first term and now a special envoy himself, said.
“The same people who designed Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria are upset that Witkoff is close to helping President Trump end his 7th war,” Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA said.
“The so called “experts” are at it again — after decades of drawing us into pointless wars that cost us untold amounts of blood and treasure, they’re now attacking President Trump’s team for trying to avoid the costly mistakes of the past. Steve should wear it as a badge of honor that he’s being attacked by those insufferable buffoons,” Arthur Schwartz, a top GOP strategist, added.
“Trump’s unmatched diplomatic and national security successes are the result of his instincts and the fact that he’s built an extraordinary team, with Steve Witkoff often being the tip of the spear,” Cliff Sims, who was deputy DNI in Trump’s first term, also said. “European diplomats and career bureaucrats can whine all they want, but it’s nothing but jealousy that Trump and Witkoff have done more to advance America’s interest in a matter of months than they have in their entire failed careers.”
Trump’s and Witkoff’s team also provided Breitbart News with the full on-record quotes that were provided to Politico, but the publication either chose to ignore or print only small parts of–and they include quotes from the Vice President of the United States JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and even the British government’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell as well as Abraham Accords architect and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“Steve Witkoff has made more progress towards ending the bloodshed in Ukraine than all his critics combined,” Vance said. “He’s a natural diplomat, an experienced negotiator, and a true humanitarian. These smears are coming from lifelong bureaucrats who are threatened by Steve’s success, and who are basically opposed to a productive peace process.”
“Steve is a key member of President Trump’s team and plays an indispensable role in advancing the President’s priorities,” Rubio added. “His unique perspective and innovative approach open new opportunities for diplomacy that were previously unavailable. It’s been remarkable to see him in action and a privilege to call him a colleague.”
Powell, the top national security official for the British government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said:
I have been working on peace negotiations for the last thirty years and there is a lot of snobbery in diplomacy – that peace can only be made in grand chandeliered rooms, with a delegation of tens of officials and decades of diplomatic experience. But in my experience the people who are actually successful at making peace operate on their own and concentrate on building trust between key leaders on either side and moving quietly to cut a deal. Steve Witkoff is exactly that sort of person. Steve brings experience from making deals in a completely different field, together with charm and optimism, unburdened by the tens of reasons why an initiative cannot work, and a steely focus on getting to a lasting agreement. In the course of this year Steve has been able to open doors that no one else could and make peace possible in a series of different conflicts which would otherwise have remained insoluble.
Kushner, who is not in government in Trump’s second term but was a key member of his first White House, added that he is impressed by Witkoff.
“Small focused teams with the right leadership can achieve great results,” Kushner said. “Coming from the deal world, managing several complex deals at the same time is not uncommon. I am impressed by Steve’s commitment, creativity and determination to solve some of the worlds [sic] most complex problems. Steve is quick to seek out advice and expertise when he is assessing a situation and evolves his perspectives as the facts change.”
Several U.S. Senators came rushing in to defend Witkoff as well–in addition to the social media posts above from some, more issued statements provided to Breitbart News.
“Steve Witkoff has helped President Trump deliver an average of one peace agreement per month in conflicts around the world,” Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) said. “Witkoff brings an outsider perspective to peace negotiations and is delivering results, so it is not surprising that ineffective deep state bureaucrats are smearing him in an attempt to remain relevant.”
“President Trump has filled his Administration with America First reformers, and Steve Witkoff is no exception,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) added. “The same so-called foreign policy experts attacking Mr. Witkoff have a strong record of being wrong over the past 30 years, and this time will be no different.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) issued this statement to Breitbart News:
Steve Witkoff is doing a fantastic job negotiating peace on behalf of President Trump after four years of chaos under Biden. We are lucky to have such a skilled negotiator working to stop endless wars and disrupt deep state foreign policy, and its a shame that America-last neocons are attacking him in the press with anonymous leaks. So called experts that spent decades writing white papers have been eclipsed by an amazing business mind. They can’t wrap their head around the idea that common sense always prevails.
This disaster for Politico comes amid a series of broader problems at the publication. Politico has seen a talent drain from both the editorial and business sides for some time now, with many of its top journalists leaving for what they thought were greener pastures–such as places like the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere–and from its business side communications adviser, Brad Dayspring, who left the outlet earlier this year after many years being employed there.
What’s more, other top talent from the outlet do appear to be looking elsewhere for employment, suggesting the drain from Politico is not even close to over. Rachael Bade, a top reporter at Politico who co-writes the outlet’s flagship newsletter, Playbook, has been having discussions with other outlets–particularly Axios–about potential gigs outside Politico. The conversations, which multiple sources have confirmed to Breitbart News, were denied by Bade when reached for comment on the matter earlier on Friday. But at least one senior person at Axios and executives at other outlets have told Breitbart News about the rolling conversations, which some described in varying degrees. Schwartz, the GOP strategist quoted above in defense of Witkoff, had previously made this allegation publicly in a social media post after a Bade story of questionable authenticity on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth:
Beyond these matters, the publication has still not recovered from its abominable decision to print the letter from 51 former Intelligence Community (IC) officials back in late 2020, right before that election, claiming that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. That story has been demolished by authentication of the Hunter Biden laptop and by congressional investigation into the matter for the past several years.
What’s more, Politico’s German ownership structure–the publication was sold in recent years to German conglomerate Axel Springer, headquartered in Berlin–continues to come under serious scrutiny as it did earlier this year. Many of the above quotes defending Witkoff from Trump-aligned folks make it clear that Politico is German-owned, but again this continues to be a problem for a place struggling to maintain relevance and keep talent.
