Trump says 'I'd like to apologize to Melania' on behalf of news outlets that reported he blamed her for his failed endorsement of Dr. Oz

• Trump said he was sorry to Melania after a report that he's privately blaming her for faulty election advice.
• The New York Times reported that Trump is trying to cast the blame on others for his backing of Mehmet Oz.
• Oz's embarrassing defeat highlighted a trying election night for the former president.

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday offered a rare apology, expressing a show of contrition following a report that he blamed former first lady Melania Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity for pushing him to endorse Dr. Mehmet Oz.

"I'd like to apologize to Melania and Sean Hannity for all of the Fake News and fictional stories," Trump said in a message on his Truth Social platform.

His apology came minutes after a separate message in which he blasted New York Times' reporter Maggie Haberman for reporting that he is privately blaming Melania, Hannity, and casino mogul Steve Wynn for pushing him to endorse Oz. Trump's support of Oz has been a major factor in midterm post-mortems as Republicans fume about losing a Senate seat to Democrats that could cost them the majority.

"There is a Fake Story being promulgated by third rate reporter Maggie Hagaman of the Failing New York Times, that I am blaming our great former First Lady, Melania, and Sean Hannity, that I was angry with their pushing me to Endorse Dr. Oz," Trump wrote in the message, misspelling Haberman's name.

A spokesperson for the Times did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Trump has repeatedly attacked Haberman while also continuing to work with her. He sat for three interviews for her recently published book. At one point, Trump said that Haberman was like his "psychiatrist."

The former president also tried to distance himself from Oz, noting that the former reality TV star "WAS LONG IN THE RACE before I ever Endorsed him" and arguing that Oz lost in part because he didn't peddle election denialism aggressively enough. In reality, Trump's endorsement of Oz was a major factor in the GOP primary. Oz won by less than 1,000 votes over Dave McCormick, a former Trump treasury department official who had also sought the former president's backing.

When Oz won the primary, Trump bragged that it was a "big night for Trump Endorsed candidates" on the same social media platform on which he is now trying to distance himself from Oz.

As for Trump's quasi-apology, it is rare for the former president to show public displays of contrition. Even privately, Trump has said he loathes to admit wrongdoing.

As a presidential candidate in Iowa in 2015, he said at an event hosted by an influential evangelical group that he had never asked God for forgiveness.

"I am not sure I have," Trump told GOP pollster Frank Luntz, who served as moderator of the event. "I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."