President Donald Trump has long attacked news organizations as "fake news." In his second term, he and his allies have gone further: suing major outlets for billions of dollars, cutting off federal money for public radio and television, and pressuring platforms they accuse of liberal bias.

Trump's media lawsuits

Outlet What Trump sued over Status
ABC News George Stephanopoulos's on-air description of the E. Jean Carroll verdict Settled in December 2024
CBS / Paramount Editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris Settled in July 2025
The Wall Street Journal Its report on a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump's name $10 billion suit pending
The New York Times Articles and a book published before the 2024 election $15 billion suit dismissed, then refiled
BBC An edited clip of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech $10 billion suit pending

Sources: AP, via News4Jax; Inforrm.

Timeline

July 2025 — Public broadcasting loses its federal money

Congress approved the administration's request to cancel $1.1 billion previously set aside for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that had funneled federal money to NPR, PBS and about 1,500 local stations since 1967. In August, CPB said it would shut down, keeping a small staff through January 2026 to wind down its operations (States Newsroom, via Juneau Empire). PBS and NPR said they would carry on, but many small and rural stations that relied most on federal grants faced cuts.

October 2025 — Cruz questions Wikipedia

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, wrote to the Wikimedia Foundation alleging "left-wing bias" on Wikipedia. Citing research from the conservative Manhattan Institute, he pointed to the site's guidance rating Fox News as "generally unreliable" for political topics while rating CNN and MSNBC as reliable, and he requested records on how articles are written and moderated. The foundation said that "Wikipedia seeks to inform, not persuade" (Fox 7 Austin; Senate Commerce Committee). Weeks later, Elon Musk's AI company launched Grokipedia, an AI-generated alternative.

November 2025 — Bob Ross to the rescue

To help stations that air its shows, Bob Ross Inc. began auctioning 30 of the late painter's works. The first three paintings sold at Bonhams in Los Angeles for about $662,000, led by "Winter's Peace," which set an auction record for Ross at $318,000 (Fox 7 Austin). Another painting sold for $787,900 in January 2026 (WBUR).

November 2025 — Crisis at the BBC

A leaked internal memo revealed that a 2024 BBC "Panorama" documentary had spliced together two parts of Trump's Jan. 6, 2021, speech, giving the impression that he directly urged supporters to violence while omitting a call for peaceful protest. The BBC apologized and its director-general, Tim Davie, and news chief, Deborah Turness, resigned, but the broadcaster said there was no basis for a lawsuit.

December 15, 2025 — Trump sues the BBC

Trump sued in federal court in Florida, seeking $5 billion for defamation and $5 billion under a Florida law against deceptive trade practices. In January 2026 the BBC asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Florida has no jurisdiction because the documentary was never broadcast or streamed in the U.S., and that Trump can't show "actual malice" or real harm — noting he went on to win the 2024 election (Variety).

Where things stand now

As of October 2026, the BBC, Wall Street Journal and New York Times lawsuits are pending in Florida courts. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has wound down, leaving public stations to replace federal grants with donations, and the Bob Ross auctions continue through 2026.

Sources