Throughout his second term, Donald Trump has sought to intimidate news organizations, sometimes suing them and even extracting settlements.
This week, one network fought back.
The New York Times reported Friday that “ABC has accused the Federal Communications Commission of violating its free speech rights, potentially setting the stage for a protracted, high-stakes legal battle between the network and the Trump administration.”
The Times describes the filing as “the most aggressive defense from any television network since President Trump kicked off an extended campaign last year to bring media organizations to heel.”
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At the center of the dispute is the talk show The View, which is owned and airs on ABC News and was created and hosted by the legendary ABC host Barbara Walters. Earlier in the year, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr hinted that the talk show might violate equal-time laws, and the filing makes it clear that the FCC was serious about such efforts.
ABC Says Trump’s FCC Probe Into ‘The View’ Over Equal-Time Rule Threatens to ‘Chill Critical Protected Speech’ https://t.co/4bXmeGtGiu via @varietyt
— Todd Spangler (@xpangler) May 8, 2026
“The Commission’s order to file this Petition for Declaratory Ruling is unprecedented, beyond the Commission’s authority, and counterproductive to the Commission’s stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion. The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly,” the FCC filing said.
The filing was signed by Paul D. Clement, a former Solicitor General who has served in Republican administrations.
“The View has been broadcasting under a bona fide news exemption granted to it more than twenty years ago, consistent with longstanding Commission interpretations designed to minimize the serious First Amendment problems inherent in the equal time regime,” the filing goes on to say. “The View’s exemption remains valid and the constitutional infirmities in the equal time doctrine are even more pronounced today, when the broadcast airwaves account for a slice of the numerous media options through which Americans get their political information. ”
“Some may dislike certain — or even most — of the viewpoints expressed on ‘The View’ or similar shows. Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views,” the complaint says.
Photo courtesy of an X screenshot.
