hoax

Based on current trends, it is unlikely we will see an April Fool's hoax on the scale of Panorama's spaghetti report any time soon.

The Trump administration has repeatedly defended officials who took part in the group chat, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calling the story a “hoax” in a Wednesday briefing.

An account under Waltz's name had messaged him, which he assumed was a hoax.

But the crisis was fake, the result of a “swatting” call, a hoax 911 report made in the hope of generating a large law enforcement response.

He said he had never had any contact with the reporter and accused him of wanting to focus on "more hoaxes", rather than Trump administration successes.