President Donald Trump unloaded on ABC and NBC after the broadcast giants refused to interrupt their regular programming for his primetime election-integrity address Thursday, accusing the networks of helping conceal what he described as a massive threat to American elections.
“They and others in the media are part of a plot,” Trump declared during the White House address. “They want to continue this fraud for whatever reason. They want to keep it going. They want to protect the radical left.”
Trump then called for the revocation of broadcast licenses associated with the networks, arguing that media companies receive access to valuable public airwaves while failing to provide Americans with honest coverage.
“Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses,” Trump said. “They use our public multi-billion-dollar-in-value airways for absolutely no money.”
The president added that the country could not succeed without “free and fair elections” or honest reporting.
ABC and NBC declined to preempt their normal television lineups for the address, although both carried it on their streaming platforms. ABC also aired it through its radio network, while NBC broadcast a special report after Trump finished speaking.
Fox carried the entire speech live. CBS aired part of it before cutting away, while MS NOW interrupted its coverage to fact-check Trump. CNN declined to carry the address on its television network.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins said the network would monitor Trump’s remarks but would not take them live because of what she called his “well-documented history of saying blatantly false things about elections.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung accused ABC and NBC of deliberately keeping viewers in the dark.
“Cowards. NBC and ABC don’t want you to hear the truth,” Cheung wrote on X before the speech. “All they want to do is hide the facts from YOU.”
Networks do not directly hold the licenses Trump targeted; the Federal Communications Commission licenses individual broadcast stations and affiliates. Any revocation would also require a formal proceeding. The FCC has already ordered eight Disney-owned ABC stations to submit early license-renewal applications as part of an investigation into the company’s compliance with federal broadcasting regulations. The agency announced that action in April.
Thursday’s network showdown threatened to overshadow the explosive allegations at the center of Trump’s address.
The president announced the declassification and release of intelligence documents that he said revealed “shocking vulnerabilities” in America’s election infrastructure.
Trump alleged that China acquired approximately 220 million American voter files containing names, addresses, telephone numbers, party affiliations and other sensitive information beginning during the 2020 election cycle.
“This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare,” Trump warned.
Trump further accused members of the intelligence community of suppressing information about the breach and keeping it from both him and Congress during his first administration.
The president also highlighted what he described as evidence of fraudulent voter-registration applications uncovered during a 2020 investigation in Muskegon, Michigan. Trump alleged that the Biden Justice Department “slow-walked the investigation and killed it” and called on the FBI and Justice Department to reopen the case and prosecute anyone responsible for criminal activity.
Trump then cited a Department of Homeland Security review that he said identified approximately 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections.
Because several Democratic-led states did not provide their voter files, Trump argued, “the real number is actually much higher than that.”
Trump said he had directed DHS to notify states about suspected noncitizens on their rolls and press election officials to remove ineligible registrants.
The president used the findings to renew his demand that Congress pass the SAVE America Act, which would require photo identification and proof of citizenship from voters. Trump also called for tight restrictions on mail-in ballots, with exceptions for military deployments, illness, disability and travel.
“The only reason you wouldn’t do it is you want to cheat,” Trump said of lawmakers resisting the legislation.
Trump concluded by urging Americans to call their representatives and demand immediate action.
“Together, we will restore faith and confidence in our country,” he said, “and we will be bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
Trump’s presentation did not establish that China or another foreign power changed vote totals or altered the outcome of the 2020 election. New reports that the documents released by the White House included portions of intelligence analyses, investigative files and correspondence presented with limited context.
But Trump’s broader message Thursday was unmistakable: The country’s election system remains dangerously exposed—and the media outlets that refused to carry his warning could now find themselves in the administration’s crosshairs.
