From CNN to Fox to MSNBC: How the TV networks handled President Donald Trump's primetime address to the nation on July 16.Show Caption
President Donald Trump's primetime address to the nation on Thursday, July 16, served as a test of how American TV networks handle presidential speeches that could result in disputed claims.Ahead of the highly anticipated speech, Trump said he would discuss the contentious issue of "free and fair elections." The president has continuously pushed unsubstantiated claims that his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden was stolen, while also alleging, without evidence and ahead of the November elections, that Democrats "cheat" to win.After plans for his speech were made public, broadcast and cable news executives were faced with a decision about how to handle the coverage: do they cover Trump's remarks live, stream the speech online, or delay coverage to provide context and fact-checking?ABC, CNN and NBC opted to put the speech online. Fox went back and forth into live broadcasting. And CBS News ran a Special Report that featured Trump's speech – in which he accused China of "meddling" in the 2020 election, among other claims – on low volume on a background screen.Here's a breakdown of how each network handled his speech.ABC moved coverage to its other platformsAn ABC spokesperson told USA TODAY that the network would run President Trump’s speech on ABC News Live and ABC News Radio with anchored coverage. The network also expected to cover the speech in regular newscasts, with their Special Report team "fully prepared to break into network programming to deliver live updates and reporting, should significant developments occur."On television, ABC broadcast "Press Your Luck" on the East Coast, while local news and "ABC World News Tonight with David Muir" played on the West Coast.Previously, ABC News aired speeches by the president when the Trump administration had asked for time, including both terms' inaugural addresses to Congress and the April 21 discussion on the war with Iran.NBC put Trump's speech on streaming platformNBC announced live coverage of the president’s speech could be found on its streaming platform, NBC News NOW. They also had plans to air a special report on the network following his remarks, an NBC spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY.On NBC's TV broadcast, the network aired a new episode of "The Americas" on the East Coast, with local news and "NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas" airing on the West Coast instead of Trump's speech. At one point, Trump's speech was airing on NBC, though they quickly cut back to local news.CNN covered Trump's speech as 'a news event'CNN announced plans to cover the speech as a "news event" on its live broadcast, with a live feed of Trump's speech available on the CNN website and CNN's All Access streaming platform."CNN will cover the President’s speech as a news event, and monitor it for news developments, providing analysis and commentary from CNN experts who cover elections, intelligence and the FBI," a spokesperson for the network told USA TODAY. "A live feed of the speech, alongside analysis and expert commentary, will be available on CNN.com and available on CNN’s All Access streaming platform."Trump's speech began airing on CNN before it cut to "The Source with Kaitlin Collins," with the breaking news banner: "Trump gives address on elections after years of false claims." She then disputed his claims with several pundits on her show before the conversation carried onto the following program, "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip."CBS hosted a Special ReportCBS News briefly aired the speech before cutting to a Special Report from anchor Tony Dokoupil. He discussed specific aspects with pundits as Trump was shown speaking in the background. The speech primarily streamed live on CBS.com, CBS News 24/7, and the CBS News app.Fox News primarily ran the speech liveFox News flipped away briefly from the speech before returning to a live broadcast without a banner or analysis.MS NOWMS Now ran a pundit-led discussion on "The Briefing with Jen Psaki," including Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA.) criticizing the speech while Trump was still speaking. On their website, MS NOW ran updates from the speech.Trump threatens to revoke the licenses from ABC and NBCIn his speech, Trump criticized ABC and NBC specifically for not airing his speech live in primetime, saying without evidence it was because "they don't like the topic" and "because they know how corrupt our system is and they don't want to reveal it."He also made an extraordinary call for the Federal Communications Commission to revoke ABC's and NBC's television licenses for choosing not to broadcast his primetime address. "Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses." But this wasn't the first time that networks have chosen not to air presidential addresses on broadcast television. Similar actions were taken in 2014 for President Barack Obama's Nov. 20 address on immigration, as well as President Biden's Sept. 1, 2022, speech on the "Battle for the Soul of the Nation".In September 2025 Trump also suggested the FCC ‒ whose chairman Brendan Carr is a close Trump ally ‒ to pull broadcast licenses over negative coverage of him. Carr placed considerable pressure on ABC following remarks Jimmy Kimmel made on his show about Charlie Kirk.USA TODAY streamed Trump's speech on YouTube and provided live updates and analysis.
