Trump Hints At Revoking ABC, CBS Broadcasting Licenses

President Donald Trump spoke out against ABC and NBC during a red-hot rant on Sunday evening, referring to the pair of legacy media outlets as “the most biased networks in history,” going on to add that he’s “totally in favor” of revoking their broadcast licenses. He then put the companies on full blast in several posts that were published on Truth Social.

In those posts, President Trump said that the Federal Communications Commission should cancel the transmission permits with ABC and NBC’s local affiliates.

“Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC,” Trump went on to write. “I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!!”

Neither ABC nor NBC needs to be licensed by or pay any fees to the FCC; each of the local affiliate stations must have licenses and pay regulatory fees, according to the Daily Wire. The president raised questions about this arrangement during another post on the platform, saying, “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[?]”

“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!!!” Trump continued in the post. “Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!”

The Media Research Center released results from their research in April, which discovered that newscasts from networks such as ABC, NBC, and CBS gave President Trump 92 percent negative coverage. Another interesting bit of information they shared was that the news coverage of Trump during the first few months of his second term than his first.

Head of the FCC, Brendan Carr, spoke with journalists at CNBC in December 2024, saying the independent government agency could “take a fresh look” at television networks to see if they are actually operating in the best interest of the public.

“You look on the media side, I think there’s no question that trust in media is at an all-time low. … And so I think there’s a lot that needs to take place to restore trust and confidence in media. And there’s a role for the FCC, at least on the broadcast side, for instance. They have to operate in the public interest. And I think it’s probably appropriate for the FCC to take a fresh look at what that requirement looks like,” Carr told the network.

When he was asked if that meant he was open to the idea of revoking licenses for networks based on “perceived liberal bias,” Carr said, “Well, look, the law is very clear. The Communications Act says you have to operate in the public interest. And if you don’t, yes, one of the consequences is potentially losing your license. And of course, that’s on the table.”

“You’ve got the national networks, for instance, ABC, NBC, CBS,” The FCC director said. “They provide a lot of the content that the actual licensed local broadcasts disseminate. And so we need to look at empowering those local broadcasters to serve their local communities, even if that’s in conflict with the interests of those national networks.”