As of October 2023, there have been no verified reports that ABC News agreed to pay a $15 million settlement in a defamation case filed by Donald Trump. For accurate and current information regarding legal cases and settlements, it is essential to consult reliable news sources.

Following an agreement between ABC News and its anchor George Stephanopoulos to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by the Republican firebrand, US President-elect Donald Trump was granted $15 million.

A settlement in the defamation case brought by Republican firebrand Donald Trump has seen ABC News and its anchor George Stephanopoulos agree to pay the US president-elect a staggering $15 million. The funds will support a museum and charity that Trump founded. Furthermore, Stephanopoulos and ABC News also consented to release remorse comments regarding the case.

The lawsuit focused on Stephanopoulos' repeated assertions that the president-elect was found "liable for rape" in an interview he conducted in March with Nancy Mace, the Republican congressman for South Carolina and a Trump loyalist. Stephanopoulos was discussing the case that columnist E. Jean Carroll has brought. In the 1990s, the author claimed that Trump had raped and sexually assaulted her at the department shop Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.

A jury in New York concluded last year that although Trump did not rape Carroll, he had "sexually abused" her. Trump was ultimately found responsible for defamation accusations and sentenced to pay $83.3 million. Trump sued the US network and Stephanopoulos, one of ABC News's primary anchors, for defamation after the March interview.

A significant victory for Trump
Stephanopoulos adopted a tough posture on the issue shortly after the lawsuit was filed. The journalist stated that he would not be "cowed out of doing my job because of a threat" in an interview with talk show host Stephen Colbert in May.

ABC News was required to "transfer in the amount of fifteen million US dollars … to be made to a presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for [Donald Trump], as presidents of the United States of America have established in the past," according to the settlement reached on Saturday.

Additionally, according to the settlement, Stephanopoulos and ABC News "shall publicly publish the following statement by adding it as an editor's note at the bottom of a March 10, 2024, online article [of Stephanopoulos's interview]: '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's This Week on March 10, 2024.'"

Additionally, the network was requested to cover $1 million in legal bills for Trump. In addition, Trump can now "take whatever other actions necessary to ensure that the action is dismissed in its entirety with prejudice" and file for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

An ABC News spokesman responded to the news in a different statement to The Hill. The spokeswoman claimed, "We are happy that the parties have agreed to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing." Trump has not yet addressed the issue in public.