Headline Roundup • May 2nd, 2025
Did Trump Pick His ABC Interviewer?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
On Tuesday, ABC News did a prime-time interview with President Donald Trump. Trump told the interviewer, Terry Moran, “Hey, they’re giving you the big break of a lifetime, you know you’re doing the interview. I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s OK.”
The Details: It's unclear whether Trump had a conversation with ABC News about who would interview him. The Associated Press (Left bias) said ABC has not talked publicly about what arrangements it discussed but “privately pushes back against the notion that Trump was given a list of potential interviewers.”
Who's Terry Moran? Moran has been with ABC since 1997. He was chief White House correspondent during George W. Bush's first term and had several 1-on-1 interviews with President Barack Obama. Now he anchors ABC News Live and covers the Supreme Court.
Who Were Other Options? Several writers suggested “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir was a more obvious choice. The network reportedly steered clear of anchors George Stephanopoulos and Muir due to Trump's history with them. Trump sued Stephanopoulos for defamation, and Muir, who moderated Trump and Kamala Harris' debate with colleague Linsey Davis last year, was accused of bias against Trump. The Daily Mail (Right) said that a source at the network pushed back against the report that Muir was sidelined, saying, “Are you kidding me? Don't fall for this. David Muir thinks very carefully about what it is he does and when he does it.”
Why Does It Matter? Kelly McBride, a media ethics expert and senior vice president at the Poynter Institute (Center) said allowing the president to pick the interviewer would undermine journalistic independence. “When we make decisions of what questions are going to be asked, who’s doing the interview and how we edit the interview, we do it in service to the audience,” she said.
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Network insiders have hit back at claims that ABC megastars David Muir and George Stephanopoulos have been snubbed from an upcoming interview with Donald Trump.
The stars were reportedly benched due to their bitter histories with the president, Page Six reports, even though Muir hosts flagship show World News Tonight and Stephanopoulos is a co-anchor on Good Morning America.
A network source has since hit back at the original Page Six report.
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Michael Le Brecht II/ ABC via AP
During a contentious exchange about deportations in his interview with ABC News’ Terry Moran this week, President Donald Trump brought up — from his perspective — how Moran had gotten into the White House in the first place.
“They’re giving you the break of a lifetime, you know,” Trump said in Tuesday’s prime-time broadcast. “You’re doing the interview. I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s OK.”
Emphasizing again that it was his choice that Moran was there, the president scolded, “You’re not being very nice.”
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