Reporter Alan Shipnuck fought back against Trump's claims that he never said the White House was "a dump" in a piece he wrote for SI and said there are eight or nine witnesses to Trump's statement.

After news of Trump's derogatory statement against the White House hit the wires, Donald tried to fight back against Alan Shipnuck, by smearing him with the usual "fake news" moniker.

I love the White House, one of the most beautiful buildings (homes) I have ever seen. But Fake News said I called it a dump - TOTALLY UNTRUE — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2017

In an podcast with Michael Bamberger of Golf.com, Shipnuck answered those questions and said that he got a call telling him to retract the statement.

Alan said, "Yeah, I had a conversation with Ms. Hicks as well, which was quite enlightening -- the confrontational and rude tone of the phone call. They definitely don’t waste any time trying to be charming or friendly, these people in the White House communications department. She tried the same line on me, "That’s a lie and needs to be retracted."

He continued,"I explained to them, it’s not a lie. The president said this in front of eight or nine members and staffers at Bedminster. It was his first visit to the club after he had been residing in the White House. It was a moment of candor. Someone who was a part of that conversation relayed it to me. I found this person to be an extremely credible source on a number of topics."

"The week of the U.S. Women’s Open, I heard the same story told by two or three different other sources. This is certainly a moment that has already passed into legend at Trump Bedminster. It might be inconvenient for her boss and she might wish he didn’t say it, but it’s not a lie,” Shipnuck said.

Shipnuck said they were being nice by adding in a White House source denies this incident took place. "Of course it did take place, but we were just being nice."

Finally, a leader with the courage to take on Golf magazine! https://t.co/5mEBxeOuUm — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 3, 2017

Since Saturday, Russia forced the US embassy to cut staff and publicly mocked Trump.



In response, Trump called Golf magazine "fake news". — Pé Resists (@4everNeverTrump) August 3, 2017