The White House pushed back Wednesday against an NBC News report claiming Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was removed from a meeting between President Donald Trump and military leaders in the Oval Office.
According to NBC, Zuckerberg allegedly “walked in unexpectedly” during a classified briefing about the F-47 stealth fighter jet, prompting officials to ask him to wait outside due to concerns over his security clearance. The report cited two anonymous sources said to be familiar with the meeting.
NBC also described the scene as disorganized, noting that a young aide entered mid-meeting to show President Trump something on her laptop before exiting, and that the president’s cellphone rang multiple times during the briefing. The outlet claimed the chaotic environment left some military officials “unnerved,” with at least one voicing concern over potential information “spillage.”
Adding to the picture, NBC quoted a senior White House official who said Trump jokingly refers to the Oval Office as “Grand Central Terminal,” citing the high foot traffic. One unnamed source reportedly described the meeting as something out of a “bizarro world.”
However, within hours, The New York Post reported that a senior White House official denied NBC’s version of events.
“He was not asked to leave,” the official said of Zuckerberg. “He popped in to say hello at the president’s request, and then left to wait for his meeting with POTUS to begin, which was scheduled to occur after the meeting with the pilots.”
NBC did not include any comment from Zuckerberg or Meta in its report, and neither NBC nor the Post offered details about the purpose of the meeting between Trump and the Meta executive.
Both outlets based their reporting on anonymous sources.
The meeting reportedly focused on the F-47 stealth fighter, a next-generation aircraft still in development for the U.S. military, though neither outlet specified when the meeting took place.
NBC also claimed that more than a dozen current and former officials have voiced concern over what they perceive as President Trump’s informal and unpredictable management style. The network even included an anecdote from an anonymous source who found it curious that Vice President J.D. Vance was spotted casually drinking coffee and snacking outside the Oval Office.
Meta and Zuckerberg have not publicly commented on the incident.