White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has strongly criticized renowned media outlet, ABC News, for invoking fear and concern among US citizens, with alleged misleading information over Iranian drone threats.
On Wednesday, March 11, ABC News dropped an alert warning on social media about a possible Iranian drone attack on the U.S. West Coast. This breaking news left people in a state of fear, especially those living in California.
The post informed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had warned police departments in California that Iran might try to retaliate for American military strikes. And they might do so by launching offensive drones toward the West Coast.
“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,” the post read.
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. Aaron Katersky reports.
Read more: https://t.co/LNR2dkGK8T pic.twitter.com/P0JdsbF2Gl
— ABC News (@ABC) March 11, 2026
However, as the message quickly caught attention online, Karoline Leavitt responded to it by clarifying that the report was utterly misleading. She also issued a warning that it must be taken down at once.
In her response on X, Leavitt said the story was based on very weak information. She mentioned that the report came from a single, unverified tip, sent to local law enforcement officials in California.
“This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people. They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip,” Leavitt wrote.
“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 added.
This post and story should be immediately retracted by ABC News for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people.
They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip. The email even… https://t.co/jKey9ahsNk
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 12, 2026
Leavitt accused the prominent news outlet of leaving out this important detail about the “unverified tip” when reporting the story. She further urged the site to immediately retract the post because it could unnecessarily scare people.
The situation gained more attention when another government official, Ben Williamson responded to ABC News’ post. His tweet showed side-by-side screenshots of the FBI notification distributed.
“We recently acquired unverified information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland,” the post showed.
“Specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran. We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack,” it continued.
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.” https://t.co/zSBHObisAI pic.twitter.com/XEZPeNKmDA
— Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) March 12, 2026
This particular screenshot made it clear that the information was seemingly uncertain and was being investigated. Meanwhile, the office of Gavin Newsom tried to ease the situation by informing ABC News that state authorities are working closely with federal agencies to ensure public safety.
The warning comes during rising tensions between the United States and Iran, as the US and Israel launched a series of joint airstrikes on Iran, on February 28, targeting Iranian leadership, military sites, and nuclear facilities.
This led Iran to respond by launching drone and missile attacks on American military bases in the Middle East, including sites in Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar. But despite the rising tension and war, Leavitt has debunked the sensitive information about security threats, as shared by ABC News.
