Trump says broadcast licenses should be terminated if networks are “almost 100% Negative” about him

Washington — President Trump said early Wednesday that TV broadcast licenses should be revoked if newscasts and late-night shows are almost entirely negative about him and the GOP. 

“If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn’t their very valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say, YES!” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social in the wee hours of the morning. 

The post came minutes after the president criticized “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, calling him a “pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success.” The show is set to end in May 2026.

“Now, after being terminated by CBS, but left out to dry, he has actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings,” Mr. Trump continued. “Stephen is running on hatred and fumes ~ A dead man walking! CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do!”

The president also directed his ire at late-night hosts more broadly. 

“Who has the worst Late Night host, CBS, ABC, or NBC???” Mr. Trump said in another post. “They all have three things in common: High Salaries, No Talent, REALLY LOW RATINGS!”

Mr. Trump has repeatedly voiced frustration with late-night hosts. The president floated revoking TV broadcast licenses for networks that cover him negatively earlier this year, saying in September that the decision to revoke their licenses should be up to Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. At the time, ABC had suspended Jimmy Kimmel over a monologue comment about the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ABC, CBS and NBC also did not respond to a request for comment.

The FCC is an agency that issues eight-year licenses to individual broadcast stations, many of which are owned and operated by television networks. Carr said during a Senate hearing earlier this month that it’s “not formally an independent agency.” Axios reported that during Carr’s testimony, the word “independent” was removed from the agency’s website. 

The FCC states on its website that “Broadcasters – not the FCC or any other government agency – are responsible for selecting the material they air.” It also notes that “The First Amendment and the Communications Act expressly prohibit the Commission from censoring broadcast matter.”