Former President Donald Trump criticized NBC and ABC News during a late-night social media post on Sunday. He accused the networks of biased coverage and expressed support for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke their licenses. Trump claimed that these outlets provided him with negative coverage on "97%" of their stories, although the source of this statistic was unclear. A study from the conservative Media Research Center earlier this year indicated that coverage of Trump's first 100 days in office was "92% negative."

In his post, Trump stated, "IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED." He described the networks as "so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy."

Trump continued his attack, labeling both networks as "FAKE NEWS" and among the "absolute worst and most biased networks anywhere in the world." He questioned why they are not "paying Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES," suggesting they should lose their licenses for unfair coverage of Republicans and conservatives. He added, "Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!"

Both ABC and NBC News have not publicly responded to Trump's comments. It is important to note that these national networks do not hold FCC licenses for news content. Instead, they provide programming for local affiliates, which are regulated by the FCC and require licenses to operate in the U.S. Local TV stations pay fees and annual regulatory costs based on their type and market, while cable outlets have their own fees. Only Congress has the authority to impose and collect such fees, which go to the U.S. Treasury.

Any attempt to revoke licenses based on perceived news bias would likely conflict with First Amendment protections. Previous efforts to do so have been rejected by the courts. This is not the first time Trump has targeted broadcast outlets or threatened to strip their licenses. Last year, he settled a defamation lawsuit against ABC for $15 million. Trump also hosted "The Apprentice" on NBC before his political career. Earlier this year, Paramount Global and CBS reached a settlement regarding Trump's election interference lawsuit against the network.