Washington DC - President Donald Trump took to social media to launch an angry attack against CNN after the network published a statement claiming that Iran forced the US to accept its ceasefire proposal.

"The alleged Statement put out by CNN World News is a FRAUD, as CNN well knows," Trump raged in the first of two rambling social media attacks against CNN. "The false Statement was linked to a Fake News site (from Nigeria)."

"Authorities are looking to determine whether or not a crime was committed on the issuance of the Fake CNN World Statement, or was it a sick rogue player?" Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday.

CNN drew Trump's ire by covering a statement released by Iran's Supreme National Security Council after the announcement of a two-week pause in hostilities.

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The statement claimed that the Trump administration "has suffered an undeniable, historic, and crushing defeat." It was verified and quoted by numerous news outlets, such as the New York Times.

Iran claimed victory in the statement and, CNN reports, even said that it had forced the US to accept in principle its 10-point plan.

In response, Trump demanded that CNN "immediately withdraw" the statement and issue an apology for their "terrible reporting."

"No one can believe that Fake News CNN put out a knowingly false and dangerous statement pretending it came from the upper levels of the Iranian Government," Trump said in a follow-up post. "It didn't!"

CNN backed its reporting in a statement to the Daily Beast, citing a statement from an official Iranian spokesperson.

It's unclear why Trump claimed that the statement, one of many issued in the hours after the ceasefire was announced, came from a fraudulent Nigerian news website.