ABC News agreed to contribute $15 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential foundation and museum to settle a defamation lawsuit brought against the network by Trump.
The news was shared in documents filed in US District Court on Saturday. The settlement comes after Trump accused ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos of acting “with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth” when he said that Trump had been “found liable of rape.”
Stephanopoulos' remarks came during a March 10 interview with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. Trump was found guilty of "sex assault," which many equate with a rape conviction but Trump sued on the basis the literal word of the crime for which he was convicted was "sex assault."
Trump said in his filing that the anchor “knows that these statements are patently and demonstrably false.”
Now, as part of the settlement, ABC News is going to publish an “editor’s note” at the bottom of the March 10 online article that was published along with the interview.
The note says, “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 March 10, 2024.”
As part of the deal, ABC News will also pay Trump’s attorneys $1 million to cover legal fees.
The settlement was signed by both Trump and Stephanopoulos on Friday. The New York Times reported "The outcome is an unusual win for Mr. Trump, who has frequently sued news organizations for defamation and frequently lost, including in litigation against CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post."
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an ABC News spokesperson shared in a statement.
A 2023 jury trial found Trump sexually abused Carroll.
Carroll was awarded $5 million for battery and defamation, then, in January, Carroll was awarded an additional $83.3 million in damages for statements made by Trump that another jury determined disparaged her and denied her rape allegations.
A judge concluded in August 2023, when dismissing Trump’s countersuit against Carroll, that the claim Trump raped Carroll was “substantially true.”
Trump has not commented on the settlement, as of this story’s publishing.