America’s major television networks are facing a tough call: should they put President Donald Trump’s upcoming primetime speech on the air? The address, planned for Thursday, is expected to center on election security — a topic that comes with significant baggage just four months before critical midterm elections.
Historically, broadcast networks have aired presidential speeches like this one, viewing them as matters of public interest. But this situation is more complicated than most.
According to a Reuters report from Wednesday, the White House is considering using the speech to reveal sensitive intelligence regarding China’s intentions or capabilities to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election — information that some officials within the Trump administration are concerned could be presented in a misleading way.
Trump has spent years casting doubt on election results, falsely asserting that his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden was the result of a rigged process. He has also repeatedly claimed, without supporting evidence, that mail-in ballots are prone to fraud, that voting machines can be manipulated, and that non-citizens are casting votes in significant numbers.
Several Democrats are pushing back against the idea of airing the speech at all. U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is among those urging networks to decline, arguing that Trump will likely repeat claims that have already been proven false.
Spokespeople for the three major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — did not respond when asked whether they intend to carry the speech live. CNN and Fox News also declined to comment.
Choosing not to air the speech carries its own risks. The Trump administration has already applied extraordinary pressure on the major broadcast networks, and refusing could further strain those relationships.
Walt Disney-owned ABC is currently dealing with two open inquiries from the Federal Communications Commission. One of those involves a question of whether its daytime program “The View” broke equal-time rules by featuring a Democratic Senate candidate from Texas.
NBC and its parent company, Comcast — which Trump has mockingly called “Concast” — have also been frequent targets of the president’s criticism. Just last month, Trump walked out of an interview with NBC political reporter Kristen Welker, calling the network “a one-sided crooked network.”
Comcast recently announced it plans to divide into two separate publicly traded companies by spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky. Industry analysts have noted the move could make NBCUniversal an appealing acquisition target.
CBS is navigating its own set of challenges. The takeover of Paramount by David Ellison — whose billionaire father Larry is a Trump ally — has stirred unrest inside the newsroom and led to the departure of senior staff from the long-running news program “60 Minutes.” Some employees have alleged that political considerations have influenced editorial decisions, a claim the network has denied.
Ellison is still awaiting FCC approval for Paramount’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that would hand him control of CNN — a network Trump has long accused of covering him unfairly. The U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division signed off on the deal last month.
Fox News, the conservative-leaning cable channel owned by Rupert Murdoch, typically broadcasts all of Trump’s speeches. However, the network may have reason to be cautious this time around. In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit stemming from its coverage of false claims about the 2020 presidential election.
