Steve Witkoff appears to have fired off a private message publicly, mistakenly outing a story’s source in the process.
In a since-deleted reply post on X, the Trump envoy suggested that the reporting for a much-discussed Axios article about peace in Ukraine must have come from someone known as “K.”
“He must have got this from K,” President Trump’s top negotiator wrote on Wednesday, apparently unaware he was tweeting rather than DMing. Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler have a joint byline on the article. Witkoff’s apparent gaffe was a response to Ravid posting a link to their scoop.
The story, titled “U.S. secretly drafting new plan to end Ukraine war,” reported that “Witkoff is leading the drafting of the plan and has discussed it extensively with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.” The outlet cited an unnamed U.S. official as the source.
Journalist Michael Weiss promptly highlighted the blunder, posting a screenshot and noting, “Almost certainly this refers to Kirill Dmitriev, who is quoted in the story. But it seems the Russian side is leaking this for a reason. Also seems Dim Philby doesn’t know how Twitter works, but is nonetheless confident of his ability to end the war.”
Dim Philby is a play on the name of Kim Philby, a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union.
Dmitriev—who leads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and has become a key diplomatic player on Ukraine—previously told Axios he spent three days holed up with Witkoff and other members of Trump’s team during a Miami visit from Oct. 24 to 26. He sounded bullish about the negotiations, telling the outlet that past efforts fell flat because “we feel the Russian position is really being heard.”
Axios said the 28-point U.S. plan is modeled on President Trump’s push for a Gaza deal. “A top Russian official told Axios he’s optimistic about the plan,” the report added.
Witkoff, meanwhile, has been shopping the proposal to Kyiv. Zelensky’s national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, met with him earlier this week in Miami, a Ukrainian official confirmed. “We know the Americans are working on something,” the official said.
The White House echoed the framing in comments to Axios. “The president has been clear that it is time to stop the killing and make a deal to end the war. President Trump believes that there is a chance to end this senseless war if flexibility is shown,” a White House official said.
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment about Witkoff’s public message.
When the Signal-gate drama exploded back in March, Witkoff had been working on the same conflict. He was in Russia meeting with President Vladimir Putin the same day he was added to the “shockingly reckless,” and now infamous, group chat that discussed secret military strikes in Yemen targeting the Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group wreaking havoc on shipping traffic in the Suez Canal.
The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a bombshell account of how he was inadvertently added to the group alongside Witkoff, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
The skill of Witkoff, a developer-turned-diplomat, has been called into question in the past. After Putin jetted into Anchorage, Alaska, in August, a Politico piece emerged, featuring concerns from a handful of insiders who questioned his lone wolf style.
He “refused to consult with experts and allies, leaving him uninformed at times and unprepared at others,” the piece read. “His inexperience shines through,” one source close to Ukraine-U.S.-Russian diplomatic effort said, before adding that “he has the president’s ear.” JD Vance later called the Politico piece a “disgrace.”
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