Politico corrects story on Susie Wiles after White House threatens ‘consequences’

Politico issued a correction late Wednesday to a story it published about White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and the backstory on what led to ousted press secretary Katie Zacharia’s firing last week.

The outlet originally reported that Wiles helped set up interviews for Zacharia on Fox News, a widely panned series of media hits that ultimately ended with the press secretary’s firing last week.

“An earlier version of this report, including its headline, mischaracterized the role White House chief of staff Susie Wiles played in then-press secretary Katie Zacharia’s interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News,” the outlet wrote in its correction . “POLITICO’s follow-up reporting indicates she did not play a direct role in setting up the interview.”

The correction came after the White House sent a letter to the outlet demanding it correct the record on Wiles’s role in Zacharia’s hits on Fox News, Axios reported , with the West Wing saying the outlet could face unspecified consequences over the inaccurate report.

Fox News also refuted Politico’s reporting, the outlet noted.

This week’s episode between the White House and Politico comes amid a broader period of tensions between President Trump’s administration and the press corps.

The outlet was one of three Trump sought to ban from working from the White House, and the West Wing has banned the political news outlet from Air Force One on at least one occasion since.

The story in Politico is just the latest in a string of reports that have popped up suggesting Trump was losing faith in Wiles .

Trump and his aides have seemingly grown more frustrated with the media in recent days, with the president snapping at reporters while answering questions and reportedly floating the idea of moving the press corps from the White House to another location.