AP withdraws story claiming Tulsi Gabbard said Trump and Putin were ‘very good friends’

The Associated Press (AP) retracted a story Tuesday claiming that U.S. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard publicly referred to President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “very good friends.”

The outlet withdrew its story titled, “Gabbard Says Trump And Putin Are ‘Very Good Friends’ Focused On Strengthening Ties,” before publishing a correction clarifying that Gabbard was referring to Trump’s friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AP announced.

“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,’” the AP wrote in an editor’s note at the bottom of the story.

A spokesperson for the AP told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the initial report was removed from their site because “it did not meet [their] standards.”

After the initial story’s removal, the AP published a corrected story with Gabbard telling NDTV on Monday that Trump is “looking forward to success” ahead of his upcoming call with the Russian president Tuesday afternoon.

“Under the previous administration, during which this war began, there was no effort, there was no effort at all towards peace. 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,” Gabbard told India’s NDTV. “I’m sure that President Trump will have a very productive conversation with Putin, once again, rooted in his unwavering commitment to peace.”

The updated piece then accurately pointed to Gabbard’s statement about the relationship between Trump and Modi.

“With President Trump’s leadership in the United States, of course Prime Minister Modi’s longstanding leadership here in India, we have two leaders of our two great countries who are very good friends and who are very focused on how we can strengthen those shared objectives and those shared interests,” Gabbard said.

Gabbard’s spokesperson, Alexa Henning, said she contacted both the AP and intelligence and national security reporter David Klepper to demand a correction on the story. On her personal X account, she referred to the AP and the legacy media as “maliciously incompetent and purposefully bias[ed].”

“The AP is total trash,” Henning said. “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.”

Trump announced in February that negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war were underway following a call with Putin. Ukraine agreed to a U.S.-proposed ceasefire deal that would last 30 days following a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, though the U.S. and Ukraine both await Russia’s response.

 All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].

Latest posts by Nicole Silverio (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.