Donald Trump attacks ABC journalist over free speech question, calls him 'terrible reporter'. Watch

Donald Trump responded by referring to his legal battles and past settlements with media companies.

US President Donald Trump launched a sharp attack on ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl during an Oval Office press exchange on Friday, branding him “guilty” and “a terrible reporter.”

The confrontation began when Karl questioned Trump about his frequent claims of defending free speech. His question followed Trump’s assertion that criticism directed at him on major television outlets was “illegal” once it crossed a certain threshold, because, he argued, “that criticism is no longer free speech.”

Karl sought clarification, asking: “I just wanna settle this free speech question, because you’ve said that you’d restored free speech in America. Is that free speech, including for people who are harshly critical of you, for your political opponents, for people who say things you don’t like, who treat you unfairly?”

Trump responded by referring to his legal battles and past settlements with media companies: “I’ve become immune to it. There’s never been a person that’s had more unfair publicity than me. And that’s why your network paid me $15 million, or $16 million dollars. George Slopadopoulos. And that’s why CBS paid me a lot of money, too. And that’s why I sued The New York Times two days ago because, well, I’m winning. I’m winning the cases, and the reason I’m winning the cases is because you’re guilty, Jon. You’re guilty. ABC is a terrible network, a very unfair network.”

He went on to criticise Karl directly, saying: “And you should be ashamed of yourself. NBC is equally bad. I don’t know who’s worse. I think they’re equally bad. And you know, for you to stand there and act so innocent and ask me a question like that. You paid a big price because you were dishonest, Jon. The reason that I won that lawsuit was because you were dishonest. You were proven to be dishonest. And so, you can’t sit back and just say, ‘Oh, well, what do you think?’ like you’re some wonderful person. You’re not a wonderful person. Frankly, you’re a terrible reporter. You know it and so do I.”

"Your network paid me $16M. CBS paid me a lot of money too. That's why I sued the NYT as well. I'm winning. You're guilty, John.

ABC is a terrible network. You should be ashamed of yourself. NBC is… pic.twitter.com/RG2TNb38fF

—(@AutismCapital) September 19, 2025

Trump’s remarks came just two days after ABC News settled a defamation case brought by him over comments made by "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos. The anchor had said on-air that Trump had been found “liable for rape” in the lawsuit filed by writer E Jean Carroll. In reality, the jury in that case found Trump liable for sexual assault, but not rape. The network agreed to settle the matter with a payment reportedly worth $15 million.

The timing of the Oval Office exchange was also notable, occurring shortly after ABC suspended "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" following remarks the host made about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin. The suspension was issued hours after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr warned the broadcaster over the comments.