Judy Woodruff Apologizes for Misleading Comments on Trump-Netanyahu Call

Judy Woodruff Issues Apology Over Misleading Comments

The esteemed PBS correspondent, Judy Woodruff, publicly apologized on Wednesday for her on-air remarks that implied a phone conversation had occurred between former President Donald J. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding a cease-fire agreement. Both leaders’ aides swiftly refuted the existence of such a call.

This controversy erupted following a news article by Axios last week, which claimed that Trump and Netanyahu had discussed the cease-fire. Netanyahu’s office was quick to issue a denial, prompting Axios to revise its original report to reflect this clarification.

The situation gained further traction when, during a PBS broadcast on Monday, 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 Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.

In response to the backlash, Woodruff released a statement on Wednesday acknowledging her error. She described her reference to the reports, which she attributed to both Axios and Reuters, as “a mistake.”

“In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn’t seen later reporting that both sides denied it,” her statement elaborated. “This was a mistake, and I sincerely apologize for it.”

Notably, Trump and Netanyahu last met on July 26 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. This meeting aimed to mend their relationship, which had soured after Netanyahu congratulated President Biden on his victory in the 2020 election—a contest Trump has never officially conceded.

Trump’s campaign spokesman clarified that the two leaders did not discuss delaying a cease-fire agreement. “The only thing President Trump has told the prime minister is ‘to get the war over with,’” stated Steven Cheung, the communications director for Trump’s campaign. “Any assertion otherwise is fake news.”

Meanwhile, Omer Dostri, a spokesperson for Netanyahu, dismissed the reports suggesting that Trump had asked the prime minister to postpone a deal, labeling them as a “total lie.”

Axios’s initial report claimed that the two had engaged in a phone conversation about the cease-fire on August 24, citing two unnamed “U.S. sources.” One source indicated that Trump’s call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to accept the deal. Reuters later published a report that echoed the Axios account.

A person close to Trump also confirmed that there had been no communication between the two leaders since their meeting on July 26.