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ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to a “presidential foundation and museum” as part of a settlement with President-elect Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos. The settlement, made public on Saturday, also includes an additional $1 million payment to cover Trump’s attorney fees and a formal apology from ABC News.
As part of the agreement, ABC News will issue a statement on the online article at the center of the lawsuit. The statement will read: “ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024.” An ABC News spokesperson commented, “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
The defamation suit, filed by Trump in a Florida federal court earlier this year, accused Stephanopoulos and ABC News of defaming him during a contentious interview with South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace. During the interview, Stephanopoulos claimed on-air that a jury had found Trump guilty of "rape" in relation to allegations made by E. Jean Carroll. Trump’s lawsuit argued that these statements were “false, intentional, malicious, and designed to cause harm.”
E. Jean Carroll’s allegations against Trump date back to the mid-1990s, when she claimed he raped her in a department store. Trump has consistently denied the allegations. In 2023, a jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll, which was sufficient to hold him liable for battery, but the jury did not conclude that Carroll had proven her claim of rape. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million for battery and defamation. In January 2024, she was awarded an additional $83.3 million in damages for Trump’s subsequent defamatory remarks about her.
A key point of contention in Trump’s lawsuit against ABC News centered on whether it was accurate for Stephanopoulos to state that a jury had found Trump guilty of "rape." A federal judge ruled in July that the definitions of "rape" under New York state law and the broader public understanding of the term were distinct. The judge noted that whether it was “substantially true” to claim a jury found Trump liable for rape would be a key issue at trial.
The settlement was reached a day after a federal judge ordered both Trump and Stephanopoulos to sit for depositions. This agreement allows Trump to avoid testifying under oath, a move that could have exposed him to legal risks as he prepares to return to the White House.
Trump’s legal strategy of filing lawsuits against media outlets is not new. In October 2024, he filed a lawsuit against CBS, seeking $10 billion in damages over an interview on “60 Minutes” with Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s legal counsel argued that the interview with Harris and the associated programming amounted to “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference” designed to sway the outcome of the presidential election.
The $15 million settlement with ABC News marks a notable victory for Trump, who has repeatedly accused mainstream media outlets of bias and unfair treatment. While Trump’s critics see his frequent use of defamation lawsuits as an attempt to stifle media scrutiny, his supporters view it as a strategy to hold media organizations accountable for what they perceive as misinformation.
With the settlement finalized, ABC News can now put the high-profile legal battle behind it. Trump, meanwhile, avoids the legal risks of a deposition and maintains his image as a relentless adversary of the media. This development comes at a crucial time as Trump prepares to re-enter the White House, where media relations are likely to remain a contentious issue.
