Judy Woodruff, the PBS NewsHour anchor, apologized Wednesday for reporting a story about former President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu that both leaders have staunchly denied.
Woodruff posted an apology on X and expressed regret for reporting this week that during a phone call, Trump urged Netanyahu to delay a hostage deal between Hamas and Israel until after the 2024 presidential election to benefit him politically.
“This was a mistake, and I apologize for it,” wrote Woodruff.
“I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing ceasefire talks in the Middle East. As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister. I repeated the story in the live TV moment because I hadn’t seen any later reports that both sides denied it.”
During a PBS news program’s Monday evening segment, Woodruff stated, “The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign.”
But Netanyahu’s office denounced Woodruff’s reporting, telling The Jerusalem Post this week that Woodruff pushed “a complete lie.”
The prime minister’s office additionally released a statement denying Axios’ report about a phone call between Trump and Netanyahu about the ceasefire and Gaza hostage deal that the outlet claimed occurred last Wednesday. Axios updated the story last week to reflect Netanyahu’s denial.
Trump denied the phone call ever happened
Trump denied that the phone call ever happened and said the last time he spoke to Netanyahu was in July when Netanyahu visited his residence, Mar-a-Lago. During a press conference in New Jersey last week, Trump relayed what he told Netanyahu during the meeting about Israel’s war in Gaza.
“I did encourage him to get this over with. You want to get it over with fast. Have victory, get your victory, and get it over with. It has to stop; the killing has to stop,” said Trump.
GOP Representative Mike Waltz of Florida had slammed Woodruff earlier Wednesday for pushing the story.
“Judy Woodruff … needs to retract her statement — if she has any, I don’t know, integrity as a journalist — that Donald Trump is actively working with Bibi Netanyahu to somehow delay or tank a hostage deal for political reasons,” said Waltz at Trump Tower in Chicago. “That is false, it’s ridiculous, and by the way, Netanyahu — don’t take it from me or the campaign — Netanyahu’s office has absolutely denied it.”
“This is a lie from @JudyWoodruff – shame on @pbs for having 4 other people sit in silence while Woodruff slimes Trump with a lie,” said former acting director of national intelligence under the Trump administration, Richard Grenell. “Why doesn’t PBS have dissenting views? This isn’t journalism. It’s advocacy on behalf of Democrats. Shame on Judy.”
