President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of national news networks on Sunday, calling ABC and NBC two of the most biased broadcasters in U.S. history. He urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to consider revoking its licenses. Trump’s remarks, made on Truth Social, reflect a continuation of the combative approach to the press that defined his first term.
During his first presidency, Trump frequently labeled mainstream networks as “fake news” and criticized news outlets he saw as politically biased.
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What Trump said
On Truth Social Sunday night, Trump took aim at the two networks.
“Why is it that ABC and NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the absolute worst and most biased networks anywhere in the World, aren’t paying Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday night.
“They should lose their Licenses for their unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives, but at a minimum, they should pay up BIG for having the privilege of using the most valuable airwaves anywhere at anytime!!! Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!”
Trump also wrote in another post that ABC and NBC deliver overwhelmingly negative coverage of him. He wrote the networks are effectively extensions of the Democratic Party in his criticism.
“THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC,” Trump wrote in all caps. “I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!”
FCC licensing rules
Trump also criticized the networks for not paying what he described as sufficient license fees for access to public airwaves. He suggested that, at a minimum, ABC and NBC should pay more for their broadcasting privileges.
The FCC issues licenses for individual broadcast stations, not entire networks like ABC or NBC, according to its website. It also broadly cannot control what shows or content networks put on the air, due to First Amendment protections.
A station could be reprimanded if it deliberately spreads false information that leads to “substantial public harm” — or if there’s clear proof that it intentionally skews or manipulates the news, the FCC says. Even early in his second term, Trump’s clashes with major news outlets are still front and center, keeping the spotlight on the sometimes tense relationship between the White House and the press.
