ABC News has reached a $15 million (£12 million) settlement with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump over a defamation lawsuit stemming from false statements made by its anchor, George Stephanopoulos.
During a 10 March interview on This Week, Stephanopoulos repeatedly claimed Trump had been found “liable for rape” in a civil case, a misstatement of the jury’s actual findings.
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The jury had concluded in 2023 that Trump was liable for “sexual abuse,” a term with a specific legal definition under New York law, but not rape as defined in the state’s penal code.
Under the settlement terms, ABC will contribute $15 million to a presidential foundation Trump intends to establish and pay an additional $1 million toward his legal fees. The network will also issue an editor’s note on its online article about the 10 March broadcast, stating:
“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on 10 March 2024.”
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An ABC spokesperson expressed satisfaction with the agreement, describing it as a resolution to dismiss the lawsuit amicably.
The controversy originated from the civil case in which Trump was found liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996. Trump was also found guilty of defaming Carroll, with the jury ordering him to pay $83.3 million for subsequent defamatory remarks. Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the case, clarified that the jury had determined Carroll failed to meet the legal burden of proof for rape under New York’s narrow statutory definition.
During the March interview, Stephanopoulos challenged Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace on her support for Trump, falsely stating “judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape” — a claim he repeated ten times throughout the segment.
The settlement arrives as Trump continues to pursue other legal actions, including a lawsuit against CBS for alleged “deceptive conduct” in an interview with Kamala Harris. Trump has previously had lawsuits against CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post dismissed.
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