WASHINGTON: The White House has rejected a claim by Iran’s embassy in South Africa that former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt resigned after becoming disillusioned with President Donald Trump.
The Iranian embassy made the allegation on social media without providing evidence, using reports surrounding a security scare during Trump’s recent trip to Türkiye to mock the US president.
In a post on X, the embassy shared an image of Leavitt and suggested that she had been placed in danger by Trump. It accused the president of betraying his press secretary and referred sarcastically to reports that Trump had travelled in a food-service vehicle during the security incident.
Betrayal is awful.
When your boss betrays you and sends you in danger, while he escapes in a food truck, you lose all hope for camaraderie.
Of course, you can’t expect much more from a murderer.
You did a good job resigning Caroline Leavitt pic.twitter.com/MHLly0mlPS— Iran Embassy SA (@IraninSA) August 15, 2026
The embassy also described Trump as a “murderer” and directly addressed Leavitt, claiming that she had made the right decision by resigning from her position. The remarks came after Trump announced that Leavitt would leave her post as White House press secretary at the end of August.
White House dismisses allegation
The White House rejected the Iranian embassy’s version of events, saying there was no basis for linking Leavitt’s departure to the security incident in Türkiye.
Serving as the White House Press Secretary over the past year and a half has been the honor and adventure of a lifetime. I am incredibly grateful to President Trump for granting me so many extraordinary opportunities, such as working in the West Wing and spending countless hours… https://t.co/4jyW61DGGh pic.twitter.com/xny1yccuBn
— Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) August 12, 2026
US officials also pointed out that Leavitt was not travelling with Trump during the Türkiye trip, contradicting the Iranian embassy’s suggestion that she had been exposed to the alleged danger alongside the president.
The White House has maintained that Leavitt’s departure is personal rather than political. Trump and Leavitt have both said she intends to spend more time with her family following her return from maternity leave.
READ ALSO: Trump Names Young Karoline Leavitt as White House Press Secretary
Iran uses incident to target Trump
The Iranian embassy’s comments appear to be part of a wider effort to ridicule Trump amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The embassy seized on reports that Trump temporarily moved from Air Force One to a catering vehicle during an alleged Iranian security threat in Türkiye. The incident was used in the embassy’s social-media post to portray the president as abandoning those around him during a potentially dangerous situation.
There is, however, no evidence in the information provided that Leavitt’s decision to leave the White House was connected to the incident or that she resigned because of any alleged dispute with Trump.
Leavitt’s planned departure comes after a period in which she became one of the most prominent public faces of the Trump administration, regularly defending the president’s policies and decisions at White House briefings.
The contrasting accounts highlight the increasingly sharp rhetoric between Iran and the Trump administration, with both sides frequently using public statements and social media to challenge each other’s credibility.
