ABC Settles Trump's Stephanopoulos Defamation Suit: $15 Million Toward a Presidential Library, $1 Million in Legal Fees

ABC News, ABC and George Stephanopoulos settled President-elect Trump’s defamation suit over the Nancy Mace interview. ABC’s own 2026 letter dates the settlement December 13, 2024. ABC agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library, in an escrow account managed by Trump’s counsel, and to pay $1 million in legal fees to the law firm of Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito. ABC News also posted an editor’s note on its website expressing regret over Stephanopoulos’s statements.

The filed agreement (a scanned image in RECAP, read by local OCR) names the recipient as a presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Trump, and releases the escrowed money only after the entity exists and the IRS has recognized its charity status.

The court’s order following a discovery hearing, dated December 13, 2024, set Trump’s deposition at four hours, in person, and scheduled Stephanopoulos’s deposition for the same week; the agreement carries the same date.

Where the money stands: ABC’s chief counsel wrote to members of Congress on March 23, 2026 that ABC’s parent made the payment by wire on December 19, 2024 to the Brito Law, PLLC Trust Account. Trump’s counsel notified ABC on March 19, 2026 that the IRS had recognized “The Donald J Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc.” and asked for release. ABC said it expected to authorize release, and that it will not treat the payment as a charitable contribution on its tax returns.