Overview
- During a White House appearance with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ABC correspondent Mary Bruce asked about Trump family business ties to Saudi Arabia and U.S. intelligence linking the crown prince to Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
- Trump called Khashoggi “highly controversial,” asserted Mohammed bin Salman knew nothing about the killing, and insulted Bruce as a “terrible reporter.”
- The White House cast ABC News as a Democratic propaganda operation, and Trump labeled the outlet “Fake News” while again raising the prospect of license revocation.
- FCC Chair Brendan Carr announced a formal review of contracts between national networks and their local affiliates to examine whether networks can punish stations that refuse to carry certain programs for public-interest reasons.
- ABC declined to comment as the dispute added to prior run-ins that included pressure over Jimmy Kimmel Live and a $15 million payment by ABC to Trump’s presidential library to settle a separate legal matter last December.