Steven Cheung mocked online after expletive-filled rant against Mike Pompeo

Critics blasted White House Communications Director Steven Cheung online over his latest series of posts on X about President Donald Trump and a profane attack on former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Amidst praising the President's relentless work ethic by sharing how Trump was working late through the weekend at the White House, Cheung lashed out at Pompeo for criticizing the rumored deal between Washington and Tehran. His words drew sharp criticism, with many claiming that he lacked professionalism.

On Saturday, Cheung lashed out at Pompeo after the former secretary of state questioned a reported deal with Iran on X, arguing it was "not remotely America First," as Washington was simply paying the IRGC to open the Strait of Hormuz and use the money to carry on their operations. Reacting to the post, Cheung fired back, saying, "Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f-- he's talking about. He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals." He went on to add that Pompeo hadn't read anything about the deal, so "how would he know."

Pompeo had compared the emerging deal to one that was negotiated by Obama-era officials. "The deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world," Pompeo wrote, prompting the sharp and arguably profane reaction from the communications director. Cheung's choice of words drew backlash from Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Policy Director at the American Immigration Council. He slammed his post, saying, "I will never get used to this kind of obscenity being used in an official statement by the White House Communication Director."  British-American broadcaster and journalist, Medi Hasan mockingly added, "White House comms director to former Trump Secretary of State."

Cheung, who has been the White House communications director since 2025, seemed unfazed by the criticism as he continued to praise the President for working late through the weekend. "President Trump is working at 8:00 PM. Can't stop, won't stop," Cheung wrote in a post, before sharing another update saying, "It's 9:30 PM on a Saturday night, and President Trump is still in the Oval Office working hard for the American people. He's simply one of one." 

Those posts also drew ridicule from The Atlantic journalist Tom Nichols. "You know, with other presidents, I just assumed he'd be in the Oval at night during a war. I didn't need a WH flack telling me, every other hour, that the President is, in fact, doing something. Besides, I already knew he's up at night from the weird tweets," Nicols said.

New York Congressman, Daniel Goldman, went on to point out that Trump frequently leaves the White House on weekends, so his working was indeed an odd thing. "How do you know how unusual it is for Donald Trump to work on a weekend? His comms person, Steven Cheung, feels compelled to document it publicly three separate times during the day," he wrote in his post on X.