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ABC slammed for settling Trump ‘rape’ defamation case as Romney admits MAGA has won Republican party: Live

ABC News settles defamation suit ahead of trial as Donald Trump staffs up his incoming administration

Donald Trump makes joke about ‘taking on’ the media while accepting Time Magazine Award

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ABC News on Saturday agreed to a $15 million settlement stemming from Trump’s defamation suit involving a broadcast about E. Jean Carroll, who herself had successfully sued the president-elect for defamatory statements.

According to court documents, anchor George Stephanopoulos and the network were sued after Stephanopoulos wrongly said that the ex-president was found liable for rape at civil trial; he was actually found liable for sexual “abuse” for the incident dating back to 1996.

The decision by the network to reach a settlement with Trump was met with accusations of cowardice online from critics who argued that the company should have fought the lawsuit at trial.

Meanwhile, one of Donald Trump’s last remaining opponents in the GOP seems to have come to terms with the future of the Republican Party as a Trumpified political movement.

“MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today,” Mitt Romney says in a new interview.

This weekend the president-elect also named several more picks for his administration on Saturday, including Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes to run an intelligence board, and staunch loyalist foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell as a presidential envoy for special missions.

Acquitted Daniel Penny meets with Trump and Vance at Army-Navy game

Daniel Penny, who was recently acquitted for the killing of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train, met with Donald Trump and JD Vance during the Army-Navy football game on Saturday.

Daniel Penny, a former US Marine who was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 chokehold death of a man on a New York City subway train, attends the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland
Daniel Penny, a former US Marine who was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 chokehold death of a man on a New York City subway train, attends the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland (REUTERS)
US Vice President-elect JD Vance and Daniel Penny, a former US Marine who was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 chokehold death of a man on a New York City subway train, react at the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland
US Vice President-elect JD Vance and Daniel Penny, a former US Marine who was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 chokehold death of a man on a New York City subway train, react at the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland (REUTERS)
US President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Daniel Penny, a former US Marine who was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 chokehold death of a man on a New York City subway train, attend the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland
US President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Daniel Penny, a former US Marine who was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 chokehold death of a man on a New York City subway train, attend the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland (REUTERS)
Graig Graziosi14 December 2024 22:30

Big Tech goes Big Trump

This week, the leaders of the tech industry made a concerted push too woo Donald Trump, who has long been a critic, accusing platforms of unfairly silencing him and going after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for his ownership of the Washington Post.

Here’s how it all went down.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta donates $1m to Trump’s inaugural fund

Facebook founder appears to be moving to mend fences with the president-elect after years of rocky relations

First Zuckerberg, now Bezos: Amazon to donate $1m to Trump’s inaugural fund

Online retail giant’s founder Jeff Bezos joins Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg in making a generous donation to the president-elect

Trump hosts Apple CEO at Mar-a-Lago as big tech leaders continue outreach to president-elect

Donald Trump is hosting Apple CEO Tim Cook for a Friday evening dinner at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 22:20

More Trump nominees announced

Donald Trump has announced two new additions to his administration, naming Bill White as ambassador to Belgium and nominating Troy Edgar to be deputy Homeland Security secretary.

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 22:00

Washington restaurant server fired for comments on refusing to serve Trump officials

A Washington, D.C.-area restaurant worker has reportedly been fired for saying she might refuse to serve Trump administration officials, according to Fox News.

The decision comes after the server spoke out about the influx of new Trump admininistration officials soon to be dining out around the Capitol.

“I personally would refuse to serve any person in office who I know of as being a sex trafficker or trying to deport millions of people,” Suzannah Van Rooy, a server at Beuchert’s Saloon on Capitol Hill, told the Washingtonian. “It’s not, ‘Oh, we hate Republicans.’ It’s that this person has moral convictions that are strongly opposed to mine, and I don’t feel comfortable serving them.”

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 21:40

BREAKING: ABC agrees to pay $15 million to Trump in defamation lawsuit settlement

ABC has agreed to pay $15 million as part of a settlement with Donald Trump after the president-electsued the network and host George Stephanopoulos for defamation.

In March, Stephanopoulos pressed congresswoman Nancy Mace about her support for the former president despite a judge finding him “liable for rape by a jury,” he said.

“Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury,” Stephonopoulos. “It’s been affirmed by a judge.”

Juries in New York found Trump liable for defaming and sexually abusing E Jean Carroll after he repeatedly called her a liar for speaking publicly about allegations that he assaulted her in the 1990s. Trump has appealed the nearly $90 million in judgments against him.

Alex Woodward reports.

ABC agrees to pay $15 million to Trump in defamation lawsuit settlement

Host George Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed Trump was held civilly liable for rape

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 21:09

WATCH: Trump salutes instead of putting his hand over heart during national anthem

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 21:03

Pharma ceo says there’s ‘more common ground’ after Mar-a-Lago meeting with RFK

Big Pharma executives reportedly had a series of surprisingly cordial meeting in recent days with Donald Trump and Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at Mar-a-Lago, despite Kennedy being an outspoken critic of the industry.

During the December confab, which reportedly included the CEOs of Pfizer, Eli Lilly and the trade group PhRMA, Trump reportedly talked about lowering drug costs and increasing U.S. manufacturing of medicines.

The president-elect also steered things back on course when Kennedy began discussing his opinions on the potential link between vaccines and autism, a theory that’s been widely discreditted. Trump reportedly suggested more study would help reduce vaccine hesitancy, according to The Washington Post.

“Probably shouldn’t say too much about it, but it was all you can imagine, and a little bit more,” Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told the Economic Club of Washington this week of the meeting. “There’s often more common ground than you’d think just reading the newspapers.”

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 21:00

Photos: Crowd cheers Trump and his allies at Army-Navy game

(Associated Press)
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
(Reuters)
Josh Marcus14 December 2024 20:45

‘How do you like that?’: Man hurls coffee at George Santos in Time Square

Former congressman George Santos reportedly had a cup of coffee thrown on him as he walked through Times Square in New York City recently, according to a viral video.

In the clip, the former congressman, who pleaded guilty in August to identity theft and wire fraud charges, reacts with a mix of shock and anger, saying, “What the f*** is wrong with you?”

It’s unclear who threw the coffee at Santos, though the video begins with an unnamed man speaking into camera saying, “This guy has got [the] audacity to show his face?”

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 20:29

Watch live: Trump attends Army-Navy game in Maryland

Josh Marcus14 December 2024 20:11

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