The United States President, Donald Trump has pointed accusing fingers at Nigeria for allegedly spreading misinformation regarding Iran’s response to his ceasefire announcement.
The altercation started on Wednesday after Trump announced a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, intended to pave the way for negotiations.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump dismissed a statement aired by CNN which was attributed to Iranian authorities and suggested that Tehran had secured a significant victory in the conflict.
He said “the alleged statement put out by CNN World News is a fraud, as CNN well knows,” adding that the report originated from “a fake news site (from Nigeria)” and was immediately presented by CNN as a legitimate headline.
According to Trump, the Nigerian site is a fake news platform, and the international broadcaster has been ordered to withdraw the statement.
“No one can believe that fake news CNN put out a knowingly false and dangerous statement pretending it came from the upper levels of the Iranian government. It didn’t!
“It was totally made up and posted as a headline for the purpose of perhaps inflaming a very delicate situation.
“It was a new troublemaking site from Nigeria and CNN just got caught cheating – A very dangerous thing to do,” part of Trump’s post reads.
The United States President insisted that the version broadcast by the network did not reflect Iran’s official position, adding that what he described as the “official statement” had been shared separately on his platform.
In a follow-up post, the US president intensified his criticism, accusing CNN of publishing a “knowingly false and dangerous statement” that could inflame tensions during a sensitive period.
He also called on the network to withdraw the report and issue an apology, suggesting that authorities were examining whether any wrongdoing was involved in its publication.
The disputed report, attributed to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, claimed that Tehran had inflicted a “historic and crushing defeat” on the United States and compelled Washington to accept elements of its proposed negotiation framework.
However, Trump rejected the claim, maintaining that Iran’s official communication did not support such assertions.
Meanwhile, CNN stood by its reporting and declined to retract the story.
A spokesperson for the network said the report was based on information obtained directly from Iranian officials and corroborated by multiple state media outlets.
“We received the statement from specific official Iranian spokespeople who are known to us,” the spokesperson said, adding that versions of the statement were widely circulated in both English and Farsi across Iranian platforms.
The network maintained that it adhered to standard journalistic practices and relied on verified sources in publishing the report.
The dispute has drawn attention in Nigeria following Trump’s claim, although he did not provide evidence to support the allegation that the report originated from a Nigerian-based platform.
