Donald Trump lashes out at ABC reporter over Epstein files, calls for licence revocation

US President Donald Trump sharply rebuked ABC News reporter Mary Bruce during an Oval Office appearance, calling her a terrible reporter and demanding that ABC’s broadcasting licence be taken away after she pressed him on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The confrontation unfolded as Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, turning a routine photo-op into a combative exchange.

The reporter’s question was straightforward: Why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files instead of doing it himself?

“I think the licence should be taken away from ABC, because your news is so fake and so wrong,” Trump said, escalating his criticism of the network. He went on to praise Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr, whom he appointed earlier this year. “He should look at that,” Trump said, urging the FCC to examine whether ABC should keep its licences.

Trump further answered. “It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude,” he said. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions You’re all psyched. Somebody psychs you over at ABC.”

TRUMP BLAMES DEMOCRATS

He then insisted he had no connection to Epstein. “I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said. “I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert. But I guess I turned out to be right.”

Trump quickly accused Democrats of trying to weaponise the scandal. “You know who does have something to do with him? Bill Clinton. Larry Summers Andrew Weissmann,” he said. “You don’t even talk about those people. It’s a Democrat hoax.”

“He gave me none. Zero. But he gave money to Democrats,” Trump said, arguing that the media had ignored those ties because people are wise to your hoax.

He then turned his fire back on the network. “ABC — your company, your crappy company — is one of the perpetrators,” he said. “I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and so wrong.”

Trump claimed ABC’s coverage was 97 per cent negative, adding, “When you’re 97 per cent negative to Trump, and then Trump wins the election in a landslide, that means your news is not credible. And you’re not credible as a reporter.”

The altercation overshadowed the visit of the Saudi crown prince, who sat beside Trump as he unleashed his tirade. By the end, Trump declared he had answered the question, before directing the reporter to look into Democrats’ ties with Epstein instead.

This isn’t the first time the network has come under Trump’s fire. In September, the FCC pressured broadcasters to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air after the late-night host made remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump has repeatedly urged the FCC to revoke the station licenses of ABC and Comcast-owned NBC, arguing that they misuse the public airwaves. The FCC grants eight-year licenses to individual broadcast stations rather than networks. While it does have the power to revoke a license under a rarely invoked public interest standard, it has not done so in more than 40 years.

– Ends

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