EXCLUSIVE: Politico fractures relationship with White House, Senate Republicans over “total bullshit” fake news story

Politico’s already tenuous relationship with the White House — and with Republicans on the Hill — plummeted even further in the wake of what one senior Trump administration source called “total bullshit.”

According to Politico, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller “crashed a lunch for Senate of chiefs of staff yesterday to defend Trump’s tariffs.”

According to multiple sources in the room, and the White House, the story is bogus. Miller was invited, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told the Washington Reporter that “Politico has turned into a dumping ground for cowards in Washington who seek to anonymously spew lies and gossip — and the reporters who write these fake stories don’t even realize they are being used.”

“Sad!” Leavitt added.

Unfortunately for Politico, the event’s organizer told the Reporter that its story is fake news. Brent Robertson, Sen. Roger Marshall’s (R., Kansas) chief of staff, who runs the Thursday lunches for GOP chiefs, told the Reporter that Miller “was an invited guest weeks in advance, and yesterday was really well attended because he was there.

Robertson added that “Politico’s characterization of him ‘crashing’ and innuendo about his attendance being adversarial is total bunk.”

Robertson’s perspective was seconded by a GOP aide who was in the room, who told the Reporter that “it’s truly pathetic that Senate leadership aides would run to Politico to attack one of the president’s top advisers after he agreed to take time out of his day to meet with them.”

“Nothing Stephen said was remotely out of step with the president’s agenda. If these aides have such a problem with the agenda, they should say so publicly or at least have the guts to tell Stephen that to his face instead of planting anonymous quotes in liberal rags,” the aide said.

A second Senate GOP chief of staff who was in the room added to the Reporter that “Stephen Miller showed up and laid out a strong rationale for the agenda. Permanent Washington squealed.”

“What’s new? It’s not surprising that folks whose bosses are no longer relevant because they’re out of step with the party are upset. Lucky to have Stephen there,” the second chief said.