ABC lands first network interview with Trump

ABC News will carry the first network television interview with Donald Trump to mark the 100th day of his second term.

The special will feature senior national correspondent Terry Moran interviewing Trump from the Oval Office. The interview be taped April 29, 2025, and then will then be packaged into a one-hour special set to air in primetime at 8 p.m. eastern. 

ABC also plans to make the interview available on ABC News Live, Hulu and Disney+ later in the evening.

It’s unclear why the interview isn’t being conducted by a more high-profile member of the ABC News team, such as “ABC World News Tonight” anchor David Muir or “Good Morning America” anchor George Stephanopoulos, though Trump’s suit against ABC and Stephanopoulos likely could have sidelined him from this interview.  

Trump has been a vocal critic of Stephanopoulos. He has also criticized Muir but appears to have a somewhat mixed opinion of the anchor. It doesn’t appear Trump has had any major complaints about Moran, who, as a national reporter, often focuses more on stories outside of Washington, D.C. and therefore is less likely to have run afoul with Trump.

Either way, Moran, who is an experienced journalist in his own right, ultimately got the gig. It was not clear if the interviewee was a point of any discussions with Trump’s team making the interview possible. 

It’s also possible that the network simply wants to keep Muir clear of anything potentially as controversial as the Trump interview, which, if past interviews and speeches are any indication, may contain at least some misinformation and inaccurate information. ABC News did not say how it might handle any of Trump’s inaccurate statements, such as using on-screen fact-checking or having Moran respond to any such statements directly. 

Trump sued ABC News for defamation after Stephanopoulos incorrectly stated that Trump had been found liable for “rape” when the verdict specifically found Trump guilty of sexual abuses against writer E. Jean Carroll. That interview aired March 10, 2024, on “This Week.”

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ABC and Trump settled the suit in late 2024 with ABC contributing $15 million as a “charitable contribution” toward the eventual construction of Trump’s library. It also had to pay $1 million in legal fees. 

The decision for the network to settle with Trump came under fire and reportedly rattled many newsroom staffers, including Stephanopoulos.