The Associated Press issued a rare public retraction of a story containing a significant error about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

According to Fox News, the AP withdrew a story published Monday that incorrectly claimed Gabbard had said President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were "very good friends."

The Associated Press acknowledged the error, noting that Gabbard was actually referring to Trump's relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not Putin. The correction came after the AP initially published and distributed the inaccurate story to its vast network of media outlets.

Deputy chief of staff condemns media error

Alexa Henning, who serves as Gabbard's deputy chief of staff, publicly criticized the AP for the mistake on social media platform X.

Henning did not mince words in her assessment of the situation, calling the AP "total trash" and suggesting the error represented more than just a simple mistake. She argued that the headline demonstrated a deliberate attempt to push a political narrative rather than report facts accurately.

The mischaracterization of Gabbard's comments comes at a particularly sensitive time in American politics, with relations between the United States and Russia continuously under scrutiny. Falsely connecting the Director of National Intelligence's statements to a supposed friendship between Trump and Putin carries significant political implications that differ dramatically from comments about U.S.-India relations.

History of tensions between AP and Trump administration

The retraction marks the latest incident in what appears to be a strained relationship between the Associated Press and President Trump's White House.

Fox News reported that the AP had previously been barred from certain White House events over a separate issue involving its refusal to adopt the administration's preferred naming of the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America." This background suggests ongoing tensions between the news agency and the current administration.

More recently, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had a heated exchange with an AP reporter during a March 11 briefing. The confrontation centered around tariffs, with AP reporter Josh Boak challenging Leavitt's economic explanations.

The exchange became notably tense when Boak asked Leavitt directly, "I'm sorry, have you paid a tariff? Because I have. They don't get charged on foreign companies. They get charged on the importers."

Leavitt responded defensively to what she characterized as an insult:

And I think it's insulting that you are trying to test my knowledge of economics and the decisions that this president has made. I now regret giving a question to the Associated Press.

AP's correction process and acknowledgment

After the error was identified, the AP took several steps to address the situation and maintain transparency about the mistake.

The news agency fully removed the original story from its website, with the link now displaying a "page unavailable" message rather than the incorrect reporting. The AP then published an updated piece that correctly reflected Gabbard's comments about Trump and Modi's relationship.

The corrected story included an editor's note explicitly acknowledging that the AP had deleted the original article containing the "erroneous reporting." This approach follows journalistic best practices for correcting significant errors.

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, the Associated Press explained:

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.

Media credibility concerns highlighted by incident

The incident raises broader questions about media accuracy and public trust in news organizations, especially on politically sensitive topics.

Henning's criticism of the AP specifically mentioned trust issues, stating that "this is why no one trusts the maliciously incompetent and purposefully bias [sic] media." Her statement reflects a sentiment shared by many administration officials who believe mainstream media outlets apply different standards of scrutiny to the Trump administration.

High-profile correction underscores media challenges

The Associated Press retracted its story that wrongly claimed DNI Tulsi Gabbard said President Trump and Russian President Putin were "good friends" when she was actually referring to Trump's relationship with Indian Prime Minister Modi. The error prompted strong criticism from Gabbard's deputy chief of staff, who characterized it as evidence of media bias rather than a simple mistake. The news agency followed standard correction protocols by removing the original story, publishing a corrected version, and providing transparency about the error, but the episode nonetheless feeds into broader debates about media accuracy and potential bias in political reporting.