Newsweek fires reporter who published botched story bashing President Trump on Thanksgiving

Newsweek has fired the reporter behind a botched story that claimed President Donald Trump would spend Thanksgiving by golfing and tweeting.

Jessica Kwong, a Newsweek reporter who covered the Trump administration and 2020 campaign, published a story on Thanksgiving morning with the headline, "How is Trump spending Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing and more."

However, as it turned out, Trump spent Thanksgiving meeting with American troops stationed in Afghanistan.

In a statement, Newsweek told the Washington Examiner that its story has been fully corrected, Kwong "has been terminated," and that it would take further action if an investigation proves it necessary.

Newsweek investigated the failures that led to the publication of the inaccurate report that President Trump spent Thanksgiving tweeting and golfing rather than visiting troops in Afghanistan. The story has been corrected, and the journalist responsible has been terminated. We will continue to review our processes and, if required, take further action.

Newsweek editors corrected the story on Thanksgiving Day after the president's surprise trip was made public.

An editor's note at the bottom of the story reads, "This story has been substantially updated and edited at 6:17 pm EST to reflect the president's surprise trip to Afghanistan."

The story's headline now reads, "How did Trump spend Thanksgiving? Tweeting, golfing—and surprising U.S. troops in Afghanistan."

On Friday, Trump himself responded to the botched story by mocking Newsweek. 

Kwong on Thursday characterized her incorrect story as an "honest mistake." In response, Donald Trump Jr. said the inaccurate reporting was not a mistake, but rather reflects a consistent pattern of how the mainstream media report on the president.

"It wasn't an 'honest mistake' you tried to dunk on Trump and ended up dunking on yourself because you couldn't resist. Notice how there's never been a story that broke in Trump's favor & had to be corrected the other way? These aren't mistakes, they are a very consistent pattern," Trump Jr. said.

Kwong has not yet responded to her ousting.

I thought Newsweek was out of business? https://t.co/3ro4eSJloo

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2019