MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle was forced to apologize to Tulsi Gabbard after falsely claiming the Director of National Intelligence praised the ‘good friendship’ between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Appearing on her 11th Hour show on Tuesday, Ruhle delivered the apology live on air after repeating what Gabbard’s office called ‘literal fake news’ during the previous episode.
‘Last night we reported on excerpts of an interview between the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and an Indian TV news network in which she said that Trump was good friends with a world leader,’ Ruhle said.
‘We said that world leader was Vladimir Putin. The full interview shows that Gabbard was referring to Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi. We’ve cleared that up.’
Guest host Ali Velshi made a similar apology during an episode of The Last Word.
Their apologies followed the Associated Press deleting ‘erroneous reporting’ in a story by David Klepper titled: ‘Gabbard Says Trump and Putin are “Very Good Friends” Focused on Strengthening Ties’.
The report was changed to remove the false statement with the editor’s note: ‘This story was updated on Mar. 17, 2025, to delete erroneous reporting that U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “are very good friends”.’
‘Gabbard was actually talking about Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,’ the outlet has since added to the bottom of the article.
The headline has since been changed to: ‘Gabbard says Trump is “looking forward to success” ahead of talk with Putin.’
Appearing on her 11th Hour show on Tuesday, Ruhle had to deliver the apology live on air following the story
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, India, ̶C̶h̶i̶e̶n̶ on March 17, 2025
Anchor Ali Velshi, seen here, was also forced into issuing an on-air apology
Alexa Henning, Gabbard’s spokesperson, took to X and said she emailed the outlet and the reporter David Klepper about the false statement.
‘I emailed @AP and @DavidKlepper and have so far heard nothing regarding their literal fake news article about the DNI. Won’t hold my breath,’ Henning wrote.
‘The AP is total trash, Henning added. ‘DNI @TulsiGabbard was referring to PM Modi & President Trump and this is the headline they publish. This is why no one trusts the maliciously incompetent and purposefully bias media. If this isn’t a clear example of pushing a solely political narrative, then nothing is.’
A spokesperson for AP told DailyMail.com the correction was made because the original version ‘did not meet our standards.’
‘AP has removed its story about U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard saying President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “are very good friends” because it did not meet our standards.
‘We notified customers and published a corrected story with an editor’s note to be transparent about the error,’ the spokesperson said.
In the updated article, the outlet said Gabbard ‘criticized former President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Ukraine,’ and praised Trump for his ‘unwavering commitment to peace’ by trying to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an expanded meeting of the Prosecutor General’s Office board in Moscow, Russia, 19 March 2025
The news outlet later posted a correction to the bottom of the story after editing the title
Trump spoke with Putin Tuesday over the phone for two hours as they agreed to a 30-day partial ceasefire. They are seen here in 2019
‘Under the previous administration, during which this war began, there was no effort, there was no effort at all towards peace,’ Gabbard told India’s NDTV.
‘There was no effort to have direct dialogue with Putin and with Russia to try to bring about an end to this war. So already in a very short period of time, President Trump has made much more progress towards peace than any effort that has occurred by anyone, previously.
‘I’m sure that President Trump will have a very productive conversation with Putin, once again, rooted in his unwavering commitment to peace.’
Gabbard is currently in India to speak at an international security and economics conference. She is also expected to visit Thailand and Japan on her trip.
The Associated Press’ mix-up with Tulsi is just one of the network’s latest blows from Trump’s administration as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed an AP reporter after he asked her if she’s ever paid a tariff.
The reporter, Josh Boak, was among several who pressed Leavitt on the plummeting stock market, amid massive uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs – on a day the president said he would double levies on steel and aluminum and Ontario imposed and then suspended a tariff on energy it sends to the U.S.
Tulsi Gabbard speaks during the Raisina Dialogue, a multilateral conference in New Delhi on March 18, 2025
He asked Leavitt about an upcoming Trump speech to the Business Roundtable.
‘He’s going there today as he’s proposing tax hikes in the form of tariffs. And I’m curious he’s not for why he’s prioritizing that over the tax cuts,’ the reporter asked, echoing business criticism that has crept into the discourse amid market jitters.
‘Not true – he’s not doing that,’ Leavitt interrupted the question.
‘Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that, again, have been ripping us off. Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people, and the President is a staunch advocate of tax cuts,’ Leavitt, 27, told him.
‘I’m sorry. Have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have,’ the AP reporter tried to needle her. ‘They don’t get charged on foreign companies. They get charged on the importers.’
The administration has also indefinitely banned the AP from the Oval Office and Air Force One over their refusal to acknowledge the change from the Gulf of Mexico, to the ‘Gulf of America’.
The agency have since sued three top Trump officials after the barring, taking aim at White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,’ the lawsuit said.
‘This targeted attack on the AP’s editorial independence and ability to gather and report the news strikes at the very core of the First Amendment,’ it continued. ‘This court should remedy it immediately.’
