Vice President JD Vance rebuked on Friday morning on X a report on special envoy Steve Witkoff, setting off a deluge of Trump administration officials who came to the U.S. diplomat’s defense.

Vance’s backlash was in response to Politico reporter Felicia Schwartz’s article titled “‘His inexperience shines through’: Steve Witkoff struggles to manage Russia as Trump peace envoy,” which was published on Friday morning. Schwartz wrote that the article, which focused on Witkoff’s style of diplomacy, was based on conversations with 13 U.S. and foreign officials, many of whom remained anonymous.

Vance posted on X, “This story from Politico is journalistic malpractice. But it’s more than that: it’s a foreign influence operation meant to hurt the administration and one of our most effective members. Notice how all of the people attacking Steve are on background? That means it’s two or three deep staters who are angry that Witkoff has succeeded where they’ve failed.”

Witkoff, who started his career as a successful real estate attorney and developer, has been at the helm of the Trump administration’s diplomatic talks with Russia throughout the year. He was also the first U.S. official to travel to Moscow since February 2022.

Witkoff met with Ukrainian officials in New York today, according to Fox News Digital. The outlet reported that officials said the meeting was “productive.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Witkoff’s style of diplomacy, saying his “unique perspective and innovative approach open new opportunities for diplomacy that were previously unavailable.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt backed Vance’s rebuke of the article and defended Witkoff.

“Not only did Felicia and her editors refuse to use the many quotes from high-ranking officials provided to them by the White House, they also did not include nearly an hour of context from the subject of the story, Mr. Witkoff,” Leavitt wrote on X.

Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s special envoy and president of the Kennedy Center, commented on Schwartz’s X post about the article.

TRUMP AND ADVISERS MEET TO DISCUSS POST-WAR GAZA PLANS

“Why isn’t anyone attacking him on the record? And why didn’t you quote the people supporting his work on the record?” Grenell wrote on X.

Witkoff also responded to Vance’s post about the story, writing on X, “This statement from our amazing Vice President speaks for itself. Thank you Mr Vice President. It is my honor to serve in the Trump Administration.”