ABC News agrees to contribute $15 million to Trump presidential foundation to settle defamation lawsuit

ABC News has agreed to contribute $15 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s foundation and presidential museum to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump, according to documents filed Saturday in U.S. District Court.

Trump had accused ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos of acting “with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth,” after Stephanopoulos said Trump was “found guilty of rape” in a March 10 interview with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

Trump claimed in the filing, Stephanopoulos “knows these statements are patently and patently false.”

As part of the settlement, ABC News must also publish an “editor’s note” at the bottom of the March 10 online article that accompanied the interview, which reads: “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 This Week on March 10, 2024.”

Trump’s presidential foundation and museum have yet to be established.

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contributed to this report.