President Donald Trump is threatening legal action against ABC News—again—over a report that has become late-night fodder and social media satire across the country: the apparent $400 million “free plane” souvenir he picked up on his recent trip to Qatar.
“I give these SleazeBags fair warning!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday night, directing his late-night fury at Disney CEO Bob Iger, who oversees ABC News. “Why doesn’t Chairman Bob Iger do something about ABC Fake News, especially since I just won $16,000,000 based on the Fake and Defamatory reporting of Liddle’ George Slopadopolus.”
The outburst referenced a recent defamation lawsuit Trump pursued against ABC over host George Stephanopoulos’ reporting on Trump’s sexual assault accuser, E. Jean Carroll. ABC settled in December for $15 million.
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In a warning shot fired at the national news organization, Trump appears to resent the characterization of the Qatari “free plane” gift as some sort of personal favor.
“Everyone, including their lawyers, has been told that ABC must not say that Qatar is giving ME a FREE Boeing 747 Airplane, because they are not,” Trump wrote. “This highly respected country is donating the plane to the United States Air Force/ Defense Department, AND NOT TO ME.”
Trump has recently returned from his Middle Eastern jaunt where he was greeted with fawning adoration and lavish treatment by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Since then, he has posted multiple travel ad-style videos to his social media accounts, singing the praises of these nations—all of which have dubious human rights records.
“The wonderful country of Qatar, after agreeing to invest more than 1.4 Trillion Dollars in the United States of America, deserves much better than Misleading (Fake!) News,” he continued.
The supposed “free plane” has become a running joke on late-night talk shows this week, with Bill Maher joining in the fun by describing it as “Allah Force One” on Friday. Stephen Colbert suggested Trump went around Saudi Arabia with a bag, asking if they could top the “bribe” Qatar dropped in it.
Trump took offense at an ABC reporter’s question about the plane during the week, turning to golfing terminology to explain why the reporter should be grateful for a “free putt.”
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was, I thought it was a great gesture.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that ABC settled with Trump in the defamation suit against George Stephanopoulos.
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