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Trump Threatens ABC’s Broadcast License Again After Reporter Questions Saudi Crown Prince About Khashoggi Murder
Trump also contradicted a US intelligence assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Nov 18, 2025
President Donald Trump angrily snapped at ABC News reporter Mary Bruce while taking questions alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the White House on Tuesday.
The testy exchange began when Bruce tried to ask the crown prince about a US intelligence assessment concluding that he was responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"Who are you with?" Trump demanded to know as Bruce attempted to ask her questions.
"I'm with ABC News, sir," she replied.
"Fake news," Trump said. "ABC, fake news, one of the worst in the business."
Shortly after this, Trump described the slain Khashoggi as "somebody that was extremely controversial."
"A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about," Trump said, referring to Khashoggi. "Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But [the crown prince] knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
In fact, a US intelligence report that was declassified in 2021 concluded that the crown prince personally approved of a plan carried out by Saudi forces to murder Khashoggi after he entered a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018.
Shortly after this, Bruce tried to ask the president a question about FBI files related to the late sex offender and longtime Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein, and he again hit her with personal insults.
"It's not the question I mind, it's your attitude," he said. "You're a terrible person and a terrible reporter."
He then threatened to take ABC News completely off the air.
"I think the [broadcast] license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake, and it's so wrong," he said. "And we have a great commissioner... who should look at that."
Trump's mention of the "commissioner" was presumably a reference to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who earlier this year threatened to pull ABC's broadcast license unless it fired late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, a frequent critic of the president.
Kimmel's show was suspended shortly after Carr made this statement, although he was reinstated days later amid public outcry about government censorship.
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Bari Weiss' CBS News Spiked Interview Question on Trump Crypto ‘Corruption’
"According to the standard set by the Trump FCC, Trump's efforts to control the interview content "could qualify as news distortion and deserve an investigation," according to a spokesperson for the only Democratic FCC commissioner.
Nov 04, 2025
As its new right-wing leadership comes under scrutiny, CBS News was found to have edited out a section from the extended online version of Sunday's "60 Minutes" interview with President Donald Trump in which he was interrogated about potential "corruption" stemming from his family's extraordinary cryptocurrency profits during his second term.
In the first half of 2025, the Trump family raked in more than $800 million from sales of crypto assets, according to Reuters, and the volatile digital currencies now make up the majority of Trump's personal net worth. His administration, meanwhile, has sought to aggressively deregulate the assets, leading to allegations of self-dealing.
Near the end of his appearance on "60 Minutes," anchor Norah O'Donnell asked Trump about his decision last month to pardon Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges in 2023. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's pardon came "following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company,” by helping to facilitate an Emirati fund's $2 billion purchase of a stablecoin owned by World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture backed by the Trump family.
A clip of the extended interview, posted to CBS's website and YouTube channel, showed O'Donnell laying out the crimes for which Zhao was convicted. Trump responded: "I don't know who he is... I heard it was a Biden witch hunt."
"In 2025... Binance, helped facilitate a $2 billion purchase of World Liberty Financial's stablecoin," O'Donnell continued. "And then you pardoned [Zhao]. How do you address the appearance of pay for play?"
Trump then reiterated: "My sons are into it... I'm proud of them for doing that. I'm focused on this. I know nothing about the guy, other than I hear he was a victim of weaponization by government."
He was then shown launching into a lengthy defense of crypto, which he said was a "massive industry" that former President Joe Biden campaigned against, before going "all-in" on it at the very end of the election to win votes.
"I want to make crypto great for America," Trump was shown saying. "Right now, we're number one by a long shot. I wanna keep it that way. The same way we're number one with AI, we're number one with crypto. And I wanna keep it that way."
But a full transcript of the interview, later released on the CBS website, shows that the segment was heavily edited to omit much of Trump's response to O'Donnell's grilling. The version that appeared online did not include several instances in which he interrupted O'Donnell and pushed her to drop the line of questioning.
Rather than dropping the question after Trump's dodge, as the video posted online seemed to portray, O'Donnell persisted, asking Trump again: "So, not concerned about the appearance of corruption with this?”
Trump delivered a hesitant response: "I can't say, because—I can't say—I'm not concerned. I don't—I'd rather not have you ask the question. But I let you ask it. You just came to me and you said, "Can I ask another question?" And I said, yeah. This is the question—."
O'Donnell interjected: "And you answered," to which Trump replied: "I don’t mind. Did I let you do it? I could’ve walked away. I didn’t have to answer this question. I’m proud to answer the question.”
He then concluded the interview by reiterating that America is "number one in crypto" and that "it's a massive industry."
It was not the only portion of the interview that Trump suggested the network could drop. In another moment—which was included in the extended video, but did not make air—Trump bragged that "'60 Minutes' paid me a lotta money," referencing CBS's widely criticized decision to settle a $16 million lawsuit with Trump over its editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris as she ran for president in 2024.
"You don't have to put this on, because I don't wanna embarrass you, and I'm sure you're not—you have a great—I think you have a great, new leader," which likely referred to Bari Weiss, the "anti-woke" editor-in-chief installed by pro-Trump billionaire David Ellison after his purchase of CBS parent company Paramount.
As Deadline reported back in October, CBS Evening News was the only major news network program that did not mention Trump's pardon of Zhao at the time that it happened.
Jonathan Uriarte, the spokesperson for the only remaining Democratic commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wrote on social media that "according to the standard set by the Trump FCC, Trump's efforts to control the content of his 60 Minutes interview "could qualify as news distortion and deserve an investigation."
He was referencing FCC Chair Brendan Carr's claims that he could strip away the broadcast licenses of outlets for what he called "distorted" news coverage, which has in practice meant coverage critical of Trump.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) chimed in as well, saying: "Maybe I should file a complaint with the FCC against the Trump White House for editing his unhinged '60 Minutes' interview. It will use the exact same language Trump lodged against Vice President Harris."
But others did not let CBS off the hook.
"Insane this isn't a bigger story or scandal," said Mehdi Hasan, founder of the media company Zeteo. "Just amazing that CBS could do this after paying Trump millions to settle his frivolous lawsuit complaining that they... did exactly this."
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Trump Targets Another Late Night Comedian, Saying It's 'Probably Illegal' to Make Fun of Him
"You need to understand that he actually believes it is illegal to criticize him," wrote Sen. Chris Murphy.
Nov 02, 2025
After failing to use the government's might to bully Jimmy Kimmel off the air earlier this fall, President Donald Trump is once again threatening to bring the force of law down on comedians for the egregious crime of making fun of him.
This time, his target was NBC late-night host Seth Meyers, whom the president said, in a Truth Social post Saturday, "may be the least talented person to 'perform' live in the history of television."
On Thursday, the comedian hosted a segment mocking Trump's bizarre distaste for the electromagnetic catapults aboard Navy ships, which the president said he may sign an executive order to replace with older (and less efficient) steam-powered ones.
Trump did not take kindly to Meyers' barbs: "On and on he went, a truly deranged lunatic. Why does NBC waste its time and money on a guy like this??? - NO TALENT, NO RATINGS, 100% ANTI TRUMP, WHICH IS PROBABLY ILLEGAL!!!"
It is, of course, not "illegal" for a late-night comedian, or any other news reporter or commentator, for that matter, to be "anti-Trump." But it's not the first time the president has made such a suggestion. Amid the backlash against Kimmel's firing in September, Trump asserted that networks that give him "bad publicity or press" should have their licenses taken away.
"I read someplace that the networks were 97% against me... I mean, they’re getting a license, I would think maybe their license should be taken away,” Trump said. "All they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.”
His FCC director, Brendan Carr, used a similar logic to justify his pressure campaign to get Kimmel booted by ABC, which he said could be punished for airing what he determined was "distorted” content.
Before Kimmel, Carr suggested in April that Comcast may be violating its broadcast licenses after MSNBC declined to air a White House press briefing in which the administration defended its wrongful deportation of Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
"You need to understand that he actually believes it is illegal to criticize him," wrote Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on social media following Trump's tirade against Meyers. "Why? Because Trump believes he—not the people—decides the law. This is why we are in the middle of, not on the verge of, a totalitarian takeover."
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