Fresh off his thorough victory over CBS News, President Trump is taking aim at ABC and NBC.
“Why is it that ABC and NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the absolute worst and most biased networks anywhere in the World, aren’t paying Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last night. “They should lose their Licenses for their unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives, but at a minimum, they should pay up BIG for having the privilege of using the most valuable airwaves anywhere at anytime!!! Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!”
While Trump’s many threats to revoke broadcaster licenses have never led to any actual license revocations, the CBS developments show how he can use the government to influence operations at news organizations. CBS owner Paramount recently inked a $16 million settlement with Trump and then agreed to install a “bias monitor” in order to gain Federal Communications Commission approval of an $8 billion merger with Skydance. Now Trump is turning his attention to ABC and NBC.
“Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES,” Trump wrote in another post last night. “IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!! MAGA.”
We contacted ABC and NBC today and will update this article if either company provides any response to Trump’s statements.
License revocations are a lot more complicated than Trump makes them sound. The FCC doesn’t issue licenses directly to networks such as CBS, NBC, or ABC. The FCC’s licensing authority is over broadcast stations, although many of those stations are owned and operated by a big network.
As we’ve written, revoking a license in the middle of a license term is so difficult legally that it has been described as effectively impossible. The FCC can go after a license when it’s up for renewal, but there are no TV station licenses up for renewal until 2028.