President Donald Trump faced widespread condemnation this week for suggesting that Saudi Arabia may have been justified in killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi. On Thursday, the White House sent out a release attacking ABC News—which employs the reporter who brought up the issue with Trump—as “fake news.”
Reporter Mary Bruce asked Trump about the Khashoggi killing as he appeared alongside Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a White House event on Tuesday. The Saudi regime is widely believed to be behind Khashoggi’s 2018 murder, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.
Trump leapt to bin Salman’s defense, characterizing him as doing a “phenomenal job” and complained to Bruce, “You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”
That wasn’t the only reaction Trump would have.
In an official release from the White House, the administration said on Thursday that ABC is “Fake News.” The White House falsely described ABC as “a Democrat spin operation masquerading as a broadcast network.” The release also alleged that ABC has a “longstanding commitment to hoaxes, character assassinations, and outright fiction targeting only one side of the political aisle.”
In reality, ABC has often furthered narratives favorable to Trump and the Republican Party. The network has also for decades gone after Democratic leaders and the Democratic Party.
Jimmy Kimmel, shown in 2025.
The over-the-top release, which is historically a very unusual broadside by the White House, was only part of Trump’s attack on ABC on Thursday. He also went after the network’s entertainment division with a social media post calling for comedian Jimmy Kimmel to be fired after he mocked Trump over the Epstein scandal.
The Trump administration is giving increased access to sycophantic right-wing media, and Trump has made clear that the only journalism he views as legitimate are reports praising him.
Before he returned to office in January, Trump squeezed ABC’s parent company, Disney, for millions in a settlement triggered by a specious lawsuit over the network’s coverage of his campaign. The kickback hasn’t made Trump back off from his threats against press freedom, and as the strange anti-ABC release makes clear, he is willing to use his office to assail the free press.
Paying off Trump has emboldened him and further endangered free speech. Maybe ABC and others will now understand that appeasing Trump simply erodes freedoms.
