President Donald Trump’s contentious relationship with U.S. news organizations has led to a host of legal battles and disputes, the latest of which came with ABC’s suspension and — days later — return of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show.
Trump had celebrated the suspension of Kimmel, a veteran late-night comic and frequent critic of the president and his policies, calling it “great news for America.”
Kimmel was pulled last week after a monologue included a reference to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and compared Trump’s grief to “how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, said his agency had a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC and its parent company Walt Disney Co., accountable for spreading misinformation. Nexstar and Sinclair, two of ABC’s largest affiliate owners, said they would pull the show from their stations.
But by Monday, ABC said the show would be back on starting Tuesday.
Here is a look at some of the key disputes Trump has had with media over his second term:
Sept. 22: ABC reinstates Kimmel’s late night show
ABC said in a statement that the decision to reinstate the show came after days of “thoughtful conversations” with Kimmel, who has hosted his show on ABC since 2003.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Kirk, said in a statement on X: “Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nexstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice.”
Sinclair announced on X on Monday that it plans to replace the show with news programming, saying that “discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
Nexstar and Sinclair did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Word of Kimmel’s return came after hundreds of movie, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers added their names to an open letter Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that says it is “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
Sept. 19: Judges tosses Trump’s lawsuit against New York Times
A Florida federal judge tossed out a $15 billion defamation lawsuit that Trump filed against The New York Times. U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday ruled that Trump’s lawsuit was overly long and was full of “tedious and burdensome” language that had no bearing on the legal case.
“A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally,” Merryday wrote in the order. “This action will begin, will continue, and will end in accord with the rules of procedure and in a professional and dignified manner.”
The judge ruled that Trump has 28 days to file an amended complaint that should not exceed 40 pages in length.
The lawsuit targeted four of the newspaper’s journalists, a book and three articles published within a two-month period before the 2024 presidential election.
The book and an article written by Times reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig focused on Trump’s finances and his pre-presidency starring role in television’s “The Apprentice.”
Trump also cited an article by Peter Baker last Oct. 20 headlined “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment” and a Michael S. Schmidt piece two days later featuring an interview with Trump’s first-term chief of staff, John Kelly, headlined “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator.”
The Times has called the lawsuit meritless and an attempt to discourage independent reporting.
July 18: Trump sues The Wall Street Journal
Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch whose News Corp owns the paper. The move came a day after the Journal published a story reporting on his ties to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The article described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The Justice Department had earlier asked a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s sex trafficking case. The Trump administration had announced it would not be releasing additional files from the case.
July 18: ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ canceled
CBS announced it would cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” next May. Colbert is one of Trump’s most prominent and persistent late-night critics. CBS said “Late Show” was canceled for financial reasons, not for content. However, the announcement came three days after Colbert criticized the settlement between Trump and CBS parent company Paramount Global over the “60 Minutes” story.
July 2: CBS owner agrees to settlement with Trump
Paramount Global decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit regarding editing of a CBS’ “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris last October. At the time Harris was the Democratic candidate for president.
Trump’s lawyers claimed he suffered “mental anguish” following the interview and sued for $20 billion. The company was hoping to put the issue to rest as it sought administration approval of a merger. Paramount, which owns CBS, said the money will go to Trump’s future presidential library and to pay his legal fees.
May 1: Trump slashes funding for PBS and NPR
Trump signed an executive order aimed at slashing public subsidies to PBS and NPR and alleged “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting. His order instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations.
Later that month, NPR and three of its local stations sued Trump, arguing that the order violated their free speech and relies on an authority that he does not have. This summer, Congress approved eliminating $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting.
Feb. 12: Trump removes the AP from White House press pool
Trump decided to remove the AP from the White House press pool. That meant AP journalists no longer would have access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events not open to a full press corps. The move was in retaliation for AP’s decision not to follow his lead in changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in all instances.
The AP Stylebook calls for referring to the body of water by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump chose. The reasoning is that AP disseminates news around the world and must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.
The wire service later sued Trump and a district court sided with the AP in April, affirming on First Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech. A federal appeals court in June stayed that decision.
December 2024: ABC agrees to settle defamation lawsuit
ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library as part of a defamation lawsuit settlement over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable of raping writer E. Jean Carroll. The network also agreed to pay $1 million in legal fees.
The settlement agreement described ABC’s presidential library payment as a “charitable contribution.”
Trump sued ABC and Stephanopoulos in a Miami federal court in March 2024 after the network aired the segment in which Stephanopoulos repeatedly misstated the verdicts in Carroll’s two civil lawsuits against Trump. Neither verdict involved a finding of rape as defined under New York law.
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