By Michael M. Grynbaum and Alan Feuer
ABC News is poised to disburse $15 million to resolve a defamation lawsuit initiated by Donald Trump.
This agreement marks a notable concession from a prominent news entity and serves as an uncommon triumph for a politician critical of the media, whose previous legal actions against news organizations have typically resulted in failure.
As per the settlement disclosed on Saturday, ABC News will allocate the $15 million to Trump’s forthcoming presidential foundation and museum. The network and its leading anchor, George Stephanopoulos, also issued a statement expressing their “regret” over comments directed at Trump during a televised interview in March.
ABC News, under the ownership of The Walt Disney Co., will provide Trump an additional $1 million to cover his legal expenses.
This outcome represents an unusual success for Trump, who has frequently pursued legal actions against media companies for defamation, often with adverse results, including lawsuits against CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Several media law specialists indicated that they believed ABC News could have opted to litigate, given the stringent standards mandated by the courts for a public figure like Trump to substantiate a defamation claim. A plaintiff not only needs to demonstrate that a news outlet disseminated false information but also that the outlet was aware of the falsity or had significant doubts regarding its validity.
“Major news organizations often hesitate to settle defamation claims from public officials and figures, both due to their concerns over establishing a dangerous trend and because they benefit from robust First Amendment protections,” remarked RonNell Andersen Jones, a law professor at the University of Utah.
“What we may be witnessing is a shift in attitude,” she continued. “In comparison to the mainstream American media of ten years ago, today’s press is significantly less financially secure, more politically vulnerable, and far less assured that a jury will prioritize press freedom over its criticism.”
ABC News did not provide further details on Saturday regarding their specific motivations for settling. “We are pleased that all parties have come to an arrangement to dismiss the lawsuit as per the court filings,” stated a spokesperson for the network. A legal representative for Trump opted not to comment on the settlement.
Trump filed a lawsuit against ABC and Stephanopoulos in March, following the anchor’s inquiry directed at Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who has publicly shared her experience of being raped as a teenager, regarding her continued support for Trump after he was deemed “liable for rape” in a civil suit in New York City in 2023.
In that particular case, a federal jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, but did not determine him liable for rape. Nevertheless, the judge overseeing the trial later clarified that due to New York’s limited legal definition of rape, the jury’s verdict did not imply that Carroll had “failed to establish that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as most people commonly interpret the term ‘rape.’”
In his litigation, Trump claimed that Stephanopoulos tarnished his reputation by repeatedly stating on-air that he had been found liable for raping Carroll. (In the Carroll case, a jury ordered Trump to compensate her with damages totaling $83.3 million. He is appealing the decision.)
The settlement terms in this defamation case, lodged in U.S. District Court in Miami, were finalized on Friday, coinciding with a judge’s order for Trump to undergo a deposition in the case the following week in Florida. Stephanopoulos was also nearing his deposition.
According to the settlement conditions, ABC agreed to include an editor’s note at the end of an online article concerning the interview with Mace. The note states: “ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements made regarding President Donald J. Trump during an interview conducted by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024.”
In May, Stephanopoulos was questioned about Trump’s pending lawsuit during an appearance on “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“What’s it like to be sued by a former president for defamation for just doing your job?” Colbert inquired.
“Unfortunately, it now comes with the territory,” Stephanopoulos responded. “But I refuse to be intimidated into neglecting my duties because of Donald Trump’s threat.”
The audience applauded.
