Fox News’ Sean Hannity is downplaying his role as President Trump’s “shadow” chief of staff.

The Fox News host and a close friend of Trump disputed a New York Times report on Thursday that claimed Trump aides called Hannity, as well as Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs, to get them to support Trump’s decision to sign a bipartisan spending deal on their respective shows.

“Never happened,” Hannity tweeted Thursday.

But that doesn’t explain Hannity’s about-face on the issue. On Monday evening, Hannity declared the deal was “garbage” and threatened to force any Republicans who supported the legislation to explain themselves. By Tuesday evening, Hannity softened, saying he wasn’t as bothered by the deal as other conservatives may be.