ABC News Settles Defamation Lawsuit with Trump, Raising Concerns Over Media Accountability

ABC News employees are reportedly shocked and angered after the network settled a defamation lawsuit with Donald Trump over remarks made by “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos. The controversy stems from Stephanopoulos’s March 10 broadcast, during which he repeatedly said Trump was “found liable for rape” in writer E. Jean Carroll’s civil case.

In reality, Trump was found liable for “sexual abuse” but not rape. Trump argued that Stephanopoulos’s phrasing misled viewers and was intentionally defamatory. Defamation lawsuits against public figures like Trump are notoriously difficult to win due to the “actual malice” standard, which requires proof that the statements were made with knowledge of their falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth.

However, as CNN noted, the case’s discovery process would have allowed Trump’s legal team access to ABC’s internal communications, a risk the network chose to avoid. Some ABC staffers see the settlement as a troubling precedent for Trump’s relationship with the media moving forward.

“My fear is that this sets a tone for the next four years and that the tone is: Do not upset the president,” an ABC News reporter, who will cover Trump’s presidency, told Rolling Stone. The staffer added, “That’s not our job. I’m not the only person here who saw this as a big win for Donald Trump and surrender.”

Trump has been aggressive in using lawsuits against his critics. He is currently suing a Des Moines Register pollster over a survey he claims defamed him and has also sued reporter Bob Woodward, demanding profits from recorded interviews.

In the Iowa lawsuit, Trump’s legal team claimed publishing the poll amounted to “fraud” and “election interference,” writing, “Defendants and their cohorts in the Democrat Party hoped that the Harris Poll would create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 Presidential Election.” Notably, Trump won Iowa.

While some ABC staffers expressed relief that the lawsuit was settled before Trump’s January 20 inauguration, others fear it will chill the network’s ability to hold Trump accountable. Two sources who spoke to Rolling Stone described the settlement as “capitulation” at a time when Trump is openly threatening the media.

During a Monday press conference, Trump suggested the government should be involved in filing such lawsuits. “I feel I have to do this,” Trump said. “I shouldn’t really be the one to do it. It should have been the Justice Department or somebody else. But I have to do it. It costs a lot of money to do it, but we have to straighten out the press.”

The settlement raises broader concerns over press freedom as Trump prepares for his return to the White House, with some fearing the media will hesitate to pursue aggressive reporting in the face of legal intimidation.