ABC News accused the Trump administration of attempting to censor the network in a new regulatory filing responding to the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to review the broadcast licenses of its owned-and-operated television stations years before they are set to expire.
The television network, which has been targeted by the FCC because of its programming and on-air comments, argues the administration “is retaliating against ABC for the exercise of its First Amendment rights.”
“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the 119-page filing said.
The administration first singled out the network for allegedly violating equal employment opportunity law in March 2025. Later that year, the administration took issue with comments made by late night host Jimmy Kimmel, after which Trump called for Kimmel’s firing.
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“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” FCC chairman Brendan Carr told ABC in September 2025. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
The station’s renewal cycle was not set to begin until 2028, according to the FCC.
Some of the stations the FCC wants to review are based in cities including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Individual viewers have submitted more than 150,000 comments concerning the “untimely” license renewal request — 96% of which are supportive of ABC, the network says.
Carr’s actions have sparked concern even among some of its staunchest allies. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) described Carr’s comments to the network as “dangerous as hell.”
Former FCC chairs who served under Democratic and Republican administrations also bashed his leadership, calling his decision to review licensing agreements “an assault on free speech.”
“The Chairman has prejudged the outcome of this proceeding and that the Commission may assert the power to terminate the stations’ licenses early,” the former chairs wrote in a letter to the FCC on Tuesday. “All this betrays that this proceeding is pretext for the Chairman’s continued campaign of suppressing disfavored speech.”
In December 2024, ABC settled a $15 million lawsuit Trump filed against the network over a “This Week” segment in which the host asserted that the president had been found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. A jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse in May 2023.
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