Karoline Leavitt demands retraction of ABC News story claiming FBI warned Iran could attack California

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt demanded Thursday that ABC News retract a story claiming that the FBI has officially warned Iran may try to attack California with drones.

ABC News posted on Wednesday, “BREAKING: The FBI has warned police departments in California that Iran wants to retaliate for American attacks by launching offensive drones against the West Coast, according to an alert reviewed by @ABC News.”

Leavitt blasted the post, writing, “This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”

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She added further, “They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip. The email even states the tip was based on *unverified* intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story! WHY?”

“TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” she wrote.

She followed up by retweeting a post with side-by-side screenshots of the story ABC wrote and the FBI alert actually sent out. The post from Assistant Director for Public Affairs at the FBI Ben Williamson read, “On the left is the way ABC (or their source) reported the FBI alert. On the right is the actual FBI alert that went to JTFF partners. You will notice the word left out —’Unverified.’”

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ABC News has since updated its story with an editor’s note declaring, “The FBI has posted a fuller version of its alert to California authorities, which includes that the information was unverified. The latest version of this story has been updated with the full statement.”

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Asked about the unverified report in the alert, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, “It’s being investigated. But you have a lot of things happening, and all we can do is take them as they come, and the war itself is being prosecuted as well as anybody has ever seen.”

Trump says Iran’s World Cup participation may not be ‘appropriate,’ while adding men’s team is still ‘welcome’

Iran’s participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup remained in doubt this week after the country’s sports minister reportedly threatened to pull the men’s soccer team from the tournament largely taking place in the United States this summer. 

Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali reportedly told state television this week that it’s “not possible” for the country to take part in the highly anticipated tournament after the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed amid the U.S. and Israeli joint military operations against Iran, which began on Feb. 28. 

President Donald Trump has spoken about Iran’s status for the World Cup previously, but suggested Thursday that while the men’s squad is “welcome” to compete in the U.S. after qualifying, it might not be “appropriate.” 

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“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social post on Thursday.

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Iran is slated to play in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15. It is also scheduled to face Belgium on June 21 before finishing group play against Egypt in Seattle on June 26. The U.S. is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

Last week, Trump said “I really don’t care” if Iran takes part in the 48-nation tournament.

On Tuesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Trump “reiterated” to him that Iran’s men’s national soccer team would be “welcome to compete” at this summer’s World Cup.

Infantino shared the details of his conversation with the president in a lengthy post on Instagram on Tuesday. “This evening, I met with the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump to discuss the status of preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and the growing excitement as we are set to kick off in just 93 days.”

Infantino also acknowledged that Iran has met all requirements to qualify for the tournament.

“We also discussed the current situation in Iran and the team’s qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” he said. “During those talks, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States.”

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The geopolitical crisis has also cast uncertainty over the Iranian women’s national soccer team.

Earlier this week, Australia granted asylum to five members of the women’s team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, a government minister confirmed.

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The team drew speculation and news coverage in Australia when players didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their match against South Korea on March 2.

Pentagon estimates Iran war cost $11.3B in the first six days in closed-door congressional hearing: report

Pentagon officials on Tuesday told legislators during a closed-door briefing that they estimated that the cost of the Iran war was more than $11.3 billion during the initial six days of the conflict, the New York Times reported, citing three unnamed individuals familiar with the briefing.

That estimate did not encompass many expenses tied to the effort, such as buildup of military assets and personnel prior to the first strikes, the outlet added.

Other reports indicate that the briefing involved senators.

A Senate Armed Services Committee staffer, who noted that he could only speak for the minority staff and Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., referred Fox News Digital to a March 10 letter that the senator sent to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, pressing for information about the costs of the war.

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“Since the initial strikes on February 28, 2026, how much has the Department spent on these operations? How much are the daily costs of these operations? What are the costs to readiness? How much funding does the Department need to replenish munitions and aircraft combat losses?” Reed asked in part of the letter.

No comment was provided by the GOP side of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Department of War and the House Armed Services Committee Republican communications office on Thursday.

The war-related outlays come as the ever-expanding U.S. national debt nears the $39 trillion mark.

And while President Donald Trump has been waging the costly war in conjunction with Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, Americans have been seeing a significant surge in gas prices at home.

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“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!” Trump said in a Thursday Truth Social post.