WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday called for ABC News to lose its license after one of its reporters peppered him with Oval Office questions — including whether his family’s business dealings with Saudi Arabia constituted a conflict of interest.
ABC’s Mary Bruce used Trump’s meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to also ask about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“People are wise to your hoax,” Trump said. “Your crappy company is one of the perpetrators.
“And I’ll tell you something, I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and is so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should look at that,” he added.
Ultimately, he answered the question, explaining that he was not involved with the Trump Organization any longer to make overseas business decisions.
“I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left and I’ve devoted 100% of my energy [to running this country],” Trump said. “What my family does is fine. They do business all over. They’ve done very little in Saudi Arabia, actually, though I’m sure they can do a lot, and anything they’ve done has been very good.”
Bruce’s question about business ties came intertwined with a more explosive one: US intelligence’s conclusion that bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist.
In defending the crown prince, Trump said: “You’re mentioning somebody [Khashoggi] that was extremely controversial … A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman.”
“Things happen, but he [bin Salman] knew nothing about it. And would you leave it at that?” he said. “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.”
Bruce also pressed Trump on the ongoing fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein case, asking why the president called on Congress to the release the Epstein files rather than doing so himself.
“… Fake news. ABC fake news, one of the worst, one of the worst in the business,” he said.
Trump further explained that it wasn’t “the question that I mind,” but rather Bruce’s “attitude.”
“I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions,” Trump said.
Bruce is the network’s chief White House correspondent.
Representatives for ABC News did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
