New Trump Administration Already Going After Bob Iger

President-elect Donald Trump will not take office until January 20, but members of his new administration have already started acting in their new roles.

Many of Mr. Trump’s picks have to be approved by Congress before they can begin acting in their official capacity, but that has not stopped one of his picks from letting Disney CEO Bob Iger that he will be keeping an eye on ABC News throughout Mr. Trump’s presidency.

Brendan Carr is a lawyer who has served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) since 2017. He was appointed Chairman of the FCC during Mr. Trump’s first term and was reappointed by President Biden in 2023.

Related: Disney Is Shuffling Its Legal Team To Prepare for the Next Four Years of Fights With the Government

Mr. Carr was one of the authors of the highly controversial Project 2025 document and supports the banning of TikTok in the United States. He also supports Mr. Trump’s wish to strip the three major networks—ABC, NBC, and CBS—of their broadcast licenses. Mr. Trump has been a frequent critic of the networks, particularly ABC, for their coverage of him.

Recently, Mr. Carr wrote a letter to Bob Iger, criticizing him for the way ABC has handled its coverage of Mr. Trump and saying that Americans “no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly.

Related: Days After Massive Trump Settlement, Disney Inks New Deal With Controversial Anchor

Brian Stelter of CNN obtained a copy of the letter, which he shared on X (formerly Twitter). In the letter, Mr. Carr says that the public has lost trust in ABC and specifically points to the network agreeing to pay $15 million to Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump sued ABC and Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos after the popular news anchor said Mr. Trump had been found liable for rape. He was only found liable by a judge for sexual assault in the suit brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll.

Here’s the full letter from incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr to Disney CEO Bob Iger about ABC’s negotiations with affiliates – and about trust in media writ large

Here’s the full letter from incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr to Disney CEO Bob Iger about ABC’s negotiations with affiliates – and about trust in media writ large pic.twitter.com/ARO0onozcy

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 24, 2024

Related: ABC Star Fired For “Anger Issues” Hired by Major Competitor

While he attacked ABC News as a whole, he acknowledged that local ABC stations are separate entities that are not typically owned by ABC. They are owned by other companies who strike deals with ABC and then receive separate licenses from the FCC, and Mr. Carr voiced his support for those local news networks.

“The fact that a massive trust divide has emerged between local news outlets and national programmers like ABC only increases the importance of retransmission consent revenues remaining available for local broadcast TV stations to invest in their local news operations and content that serves their communities.”

So, does ABC News risk losing its broadcast license? Since it is such a large network, probably not. But nothing is guaranteed, since Mr. Carr is very supportive of the incoming president, who has been vocal about his dislike of ABC.

Do you think Mr. Carr should be able to strip ABC of its broadcast license simply because the incoming President does not like the network? Or would that be overstepping the bounds of his position? Share your thoughts in the comments!