Facing aggressive questioning from Mary Bruce, an ABC News White House correspondent, about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Donald Trump last week suggested a form of punishment he thought would be appropriate for her “crappy company”: the Federal Communications Commission should revoke ABC’s license, the US president declared.
It wasn’t the first time he has done so. As he has sought redress for what he has considered to be unfair reporting about him and his administration, Trump has suggested at least 28 times over the last eight years that a television network should lose its license, according to analysis by the Guardian.
But while the FCC does not actually license national networks, it does license the local television stations they own or strike affiliate deals with.
Anna M Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, said after a commission meeting last week that Trump’s threats are hollow. “Aside from the ability to make things difficult for those we retaliate, this FCC is powerless to truly retaliate against a news network,” she said, noting that no local station licenses are up for renewal “any time soon.”
Here is the full history of Trump’s threats:
2017
11 October 2017Tweet from Trump
“Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked. Not fair to public!”
11 October 2017Tweet from Trump
“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!”
2018
4 September 2018Tweet from Trump
“NBC FAKE NEWS, which is under intense scrutiny over their killing the Harvey Weinstein story, is now fumbling around making excuses for their probably highly unethical conduct. I have long criticized NBC and their journalistic standards-worse than even CNN. Look at their license?”
2020
18 September 2020Campaign rally in Minnesota
“You know, in the old days, when you used public airwaves free, you had to get a license. I keep saying if they’re reporting fake news, how come they can keep getting a license? Whether it’s ABC, whether it’s NBC, CBS, or of course CNN, which is, I mean, it’s one of the great jokes of all time: CNN or MSDNC.”
2024
16 January 2024Campaign rally in New Hampshire
“Last night, NBC and CNN refused to air my victory speech. Think of it, because they are crooked, they’re dishonest, and frankly, they should have their licenses or whatever they have taken away.”
11 September 2024Interview with Fox & Friends
“I think ABC took a big hit last night. I mean, to be honest, they’re a news organization. They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”
12 September 2024Truth Social post
“ … I felt that also, but no Politician should ever do a Debate with ABC News. They have proven NOT WORTHY, and hopefully an investigation will be done as to whether or not they gave the Debate questions to Comrade Kamala, whose best friend is a top ABC Executive. If she did give the questions to Kamala, ABC’s license should be TERMINATED. Remember, Donna Brazile works for ABC, and she gave the questions to Hillary Clinton!”
10 October 2024Truth Social post
“60 Minutes is a major part of the News Organization of CBS, which has just created the Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History. CBS should lose its license, and it should be bid out to the Highest Bidder, as should all other Broadcast Licenses, because they are just as corrupt as CBS – and maybe even WORSE!”
10 October 2024Truth Social post
“A giant Fake News Scam by CBS & 60 Minutes. Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY, OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better. A FAKE NEWS SCAM, which is totally illegal. TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE. …”
10 October 2024Truth Social post
“CBS should lose their license. You know they have a license – they have a license which is worth billions of dollars, and they pay nothing. All of these networks are all crooked as hell. You saw that with ABC.”
11 October 2024Campaign rally in Nevada
“60 Minutes should be taken off the air for what they’ve done. You know what else? They should lose their license. They have licenses, these networks. They’re worth billions of dollars, but the one thing is it says you have to be honest. That’s election interference. They’re interfering with the election. Am I right? They should lose their license, and 60 Minutes should be taken off the air.”
12 October 2024Interview with Newsmax host Chris Salcedo
“They pay nothing. They should take that license away from CBS. They should absolutely – they violated the whole covenant of the license.”
13 October 2024Interview with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo
“60 Minutes and CBS should lose their license for that.”
17 October 2024Truth Social post
“60 MINUTES SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN OFF THE AIR – ELECTION INTERFERENCE. CBS SHOULD LOSE ITS LICENSE. THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCANDAL IN BROADCAST HISTORY. …”
18 October 2024Radio show interview with Dan Bongino
“It’s so bad they should lose their license, and they should take 60 Minutes off the air.”
21 October 2024Campaign rally in North Carolina
“60 Minutes, CBS, and they ought to lose their license, and they ought to take it off the air.”
22 October 2024Campaign rally in North Carolina
“CBS. You know, they have to be licensed by the federal government. They should take their license away.”
25 October 2024Campaign rally in Michigan
“CBS should lose its license. You know, the government, the government gives us license to NBC fake news, ABC fake news, and CBS fake news. If they had to pay, they’d pay billions of dollars. They get them for nothing. They pay nothing. They’re public airways, they pay nothing. The one thing is you have to be honest, and they were very dishonest.”
29 October 2024Interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity
“60 Minutes, CBS. They should lose their license. This isn’t just editing.”
31 October 2024Campaign rally in Nevada
“I think CBS should lose its license, but I think ABC should lose its license also because of what they’ve done. We’ll see … They should lose their license, which is worth billions of dollars.”
1 November 2024Campaign rally in Wisconsin
“What 60 Minutes did and CBS, I think the license should be taken away from CBS. And I think that 60 Minutes should be forced to either close or take a very extended stay.”
2 November 2024Interview with Fox & Friends Weekend
“On behalf of the people, we sued 60 Minutes and CBS. And we think their license should be taken away. I think it’s the greatest breach. I think it’s the greatest insult to the American citizens.”
2025
6 February 2025Truth Social post
“ … CBS should lose its license, and the cheaters at 60 Minutes should all be thrown out, and this disreputable ‘NEWS’ show should be immediately terminated. …”
13 April 2025Truth Social post
“… I am so honored to be suing 60 Minutes, CBS Fake News, and Paramount, over their fraudulent, beyond recognition, reporting. They did everything possible to illegally elect Kamala, including completely and corruptly changing major answers to Interview questions, but it just didn’t work for them. They are not a ‘News Show,’ but a dishonest Political Operative simply disguised as ‘News,’ and must be responsible for what they have done, and are doing. They should lose their license! Hopefully, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as headed by its Highly Respected Chairman, Brendan Carr, will impose the maximum fines and punishment, which is substantial, for their unlawful and illegal behavior. CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
24 August 2025Truth Social post
“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!!! Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!”
18 September 2025During comments to reporters on Air Force One
“I read someplace that the networks were 97% against me. I get 97% negative, and yet I won it easily. I won all seven swing states, popular vote, I won everything. And they’re 97% against, they give me only bad publicity. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It would be up to Brendan Carr.”
5 October 2025Truth Social post
“… This is just one of the many reasons that the Federal Communications Commission should look into the license of NBC, which shows almost exclusively positive Democrat content. Likewise, ABC Fake News – About the same thing, 97 percent negative to Republicans!”
18 November 2025During bilateral meeting with Mohammed bin Salman
“I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, the chairman, who should look at that because I think when you come in and when you’re 97% negative to Trump, and then Trump wins the election in a landslide, that means obviously your news is not credible and you’re not credible as a reporter.”
