The White House over the course of several hours has provided numerous different accounts of the gender of a dog President Trump praised as a "tough cookie." Just another normal one in Washington.
Trump honored Conan, the military dog who chased down Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a raid last month, at the White House Monday, referring to the very good pup as a "he." But pool reporter Hunter Walker provided the very important update that actually, according to a White House official, Conan is a female dog.
The story, believe it or not, would not end there, with Walker hours later issuing another update citing a White House official as saying Conan is a male dog after all. "Multiple officials had previously said Conan was female," Walker reported.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I can't believe I've spent so much of my day trying to confirm the gender of a canine," CBS News' Kathryn Watson wrote, while CNN's Kyle Feldscher observed, "this 'no one knows if Conan The Hero Dog is a boy or girl dog' story is easily one of the most absurd things to happen in Washington in the last 4 or 5 hours."
-
The longest US government shutdown in historyThe Explainer Federal employees and low-income households have been particularly affected by ‘partisan standoffs’ in Washington
-
Jeremy Hunt picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former chancellor shares works by Mishal Husain, Keach Hagey, and Johan Norberg
-
Is the UAE fuelling the slaughter in Sudan?Today’s Big Question Gulf state is accused of supplying money and advanced Chinese weaponry to RSF militia behind massacres of civilians
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
