ABC News pays $15M to Trump library to settle defamation suit

ABC News agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Donald Trump in federal court in Miami, arising from anchor George Stephanopoulos' repeated on-air assertions during a March 10, 2024 'This Week' broadcast that Trump had been found civilly liable for rape in E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits — a characterization that courts had clarified was technically inaccurate under New York law. Under the settlement, signed by Trump, Stephanopoulos, and ABC News Group president Debra OConnell on December 13, 2024, ABC agreed to pay $15 million to a non-profit organization being established in connection with Trump's yet-to-be-built presidential library, characterized in the agreement as a 'charitable contribution,' and $1 million in legal fees to the law firm of Trump's attorney Alejandro Brito. ABC also posted an editor's note on its website expressing regret over Stephanopoulos' statements.