Washington DC [US], December 15: ABC News has reached a settlement in the defamation lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump, agreeing to pay USD 15 million to a “presidential foundation and museum,” as reported by CNN.
The lawsuit, which also named network anchor George Stephanopoulos, stemmed from statements made during a March 2024 interview. As part of the settlement, ABC News will pay an additional USD 1 million to cover Trump’s attorney fees and issue a formal apology.
ABC News will publish the following statement as an editor’s note on the online article at the center of the lawsuit: “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,” CNN reported.
An ABC News spokesperson said, “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.”
Trump had filed the defamation lawsuit in a Florida federal court earlier this year, alleging that Stephanopoulos and ABC News damaged his reputation. The lawsuit focused on remarks made by Stephanopoulos during an interview with South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, in which he repeatedly mentioned that a jury had determined Trump “raped” E. Jean Carroll.
In his March lawsuit, Trump accused Stephanopoulos of making “false, intentional, malicious and harmful” statements.
Notably, journalist Elizabeth Jean Carroll had accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York department store in the late 1990s, which Trump denied. In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and awarded her over USD 2 million in damages. Additionally, the jury found that Trump had defamed Carroll in separate instances, leading to an additional USD 3 million in damages.