ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump, following controversial statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos. The lawsuit stemmed from Stephanopoulos’ March 10 broadcast on his program This Week, in which he inaccurately claimed that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
As part of the settlement, ABC News issued a public apology and posted an editor’s note expressing regret for Stephanopoulos’ statements. The network also agreed to pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito. The $15 million will be directed to Trump’s presidential library fund, intended for a nonprofit associated with the library’s future construction.
In a statement, ABC News spokesperson Jeannie Kedas expressed satisfaction with the resolution. “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” she said. A spokesperson for Trump declined to comment.
The settlement was reached just days before Trump and Stephanopoulos were scheduled to provide separate depositions in the case. With the agreement now in place, these depositions will no longer be necessary. According to the terms, ABC must transfer the $15 million to an escrow account within 10 days, along with the legal fees.
The $15 million payment is part of a broader effort by ABC News to resolve the defamation claim, though the sum represents a small fraction of the costs associated with the construction of Trump’s library, which is projected to be significantly more expensive. For context, the Obama Presidential Library’s estimated cost was $830 million.
Trump’s lawsuit against ABC and Stephanopoulos followed a March 10 segment in which Stephanopoulos erroneously stated that Trump had been “found liable for rape” and “defaming the victim of that rape.” In fact, none of the civil verdicts in Carroll’s lawsuits involved a finding of rape, according to New York law.
Carroll, a former advice columnist, publicly accused Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s. In 2023, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, with a jury ordering him to pay Carroll $5 million. In a second trial, he was ordered to pay an additional $83.3 million for defamation. Trump is appealing both verdicts.
The defamation lawsuit focused on the incorrect claims made by Stephanopoulos about the legal outcomes. ABC’s agreement to settle reflects the network’s commitment to correcting the error, though legal experts note the case highlights the importance of accuracy when reporting on sensitive legal matters.