ABC filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, alleging that the White House has been using the regulatory agency to prosecute President Donald Trump’s “campaign against free speech on network television.” The legal filing includes several Truth Social posts from Trump where he complained about ABC’s news coverage of him and called for the network’s licenses to be terminated.

“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed in a district court in Washington, D.C.

The suit explains that ABC has been targeted again and again by the FCC, including when the agency issued an order that ABC stations file early applications to renew their licenses, years before they were actually due. The suit names FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Trump’s lead henchman for stifling free speech, along with the other FCC commissioners.

President Trump’s tweets are central to ABC’s case, documenting his personal vendetta against the network. The president has repeatedly complained that coverage of him is too critical, though he says that of all the major networks. But he has targeted each network individually, in a clear attempt to get journalists, anchors, and comedians whom he dislikes fired. Trump has taken credit for CBS refusing to renew Stephen Colbert’s contract and nearly succeeded at getting Jimmy Kimmel booted from ABC after some benign comments about the death of Charlie Kirk.

The first Truth Social post mentioned in the lawsuit reads:

The lawsuit includes several other posts from the president, including one where he wrote about Kimmel being taken off the air in September 2025: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.” Kimmel’s show was later restored.

The suit also includes posts sent before Trump was elected for a second time in November 2024. In one tweet from October of that year, Trump wrote: â60 Minutes is a major part of the News Organization of CBS, which has just created the Greatest Fraud in Broadcast History. CBS should lose its license, and it should be bid out to the Highest Bidder, as should all other Broadcast Licenses, because they are just as corrupt as CBS â and maybe even WORSE!â

CBS later became part of new media giant Paramount Skydance as part of a merger approved by Trump’s administration. The network has seen a mass exodus of respected journalists and producers, especially at its flagship news magazine 60 Minutes, since CEO David Ellison has rebuilt CBS to be more friendly to Trump.

Trump has frequently tried to dictate how the world works through his Truth Social posts. On Tuesday, he posted a map of the Strait of Hormuz, declaring it to be a new U.S. territory. That’s not how anything works, of course, but it does signal to his subordinates what he would like to see happen.

Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC commission, released a statement in support of ABC’s lawsuit on Tuesday.

“For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like,” wrote Gomez. “I have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I’m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up. This should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.”

In its filing, ABC notes that whatever happens with the license renewal, Trump will win in some way simply by having a sword of Damocles hanging over its head. Either the commission prolongs the process and causes ABC to engage in “years of costly litigation.” Or it can “deny license renewal or immediately revoke the Stationsâ licenses, forcing Plaintiffs off the air entirely, as the President has repeatedly demanded.”

As ABC explains, “In either scenario, the Administration accomplishes its goal of eliminating a perceived media critic: either it gets Plaintiffs to fall in line, or it silences them if they refuse.”