The Feud Between ABC's David Muir And Donald Trump, Explained
David Muir famously nabbed Donald Trump's first-ever interview as president back in 2017, so it may have come as a surprise to some that when the two-time president sat down with the outlet in April 2025, it wasn't the "ABC World News Tonight" anchor who conducted the conversation. However, in light of the two's beef, it kind of made sense that Trump spoke to Terry Moran instead.
Much of the tension between Trump and Muir stems from the 2024 ABC News presidential debate. Muir memorably fact-checked the Republican candidate on his claims about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating people's pets, and didn't back down when the presidential hopeful interrupted. In response to Trump's claims that he'd heard about the claims from TV reports, Muir responded with a curt, "I'm not taking this from television. I'm taking it from the city manager."
Trump didn't hide the fact that he was upset by Muir's corrections. In an interview on "Gutfeld!" he complained that everything he'd said had been factual and that he'd been unfairly corrected. He also shared that the reason that he didn't fight back on the spot was because he was trying to live in his Winston Churchill era and be an "elegant debater." As such, he explained, he opted not to attack Muir or anyone else in attendance. Elegant, indeed. However, Trump then said he regretted that, so we're going to go ahead and say that disqualified him altogether. What's more, in the same "Gutfeld!" interview, Trump made a rather pointed attack on Muir's appearance. "His hair was better five years ago ... but that happens with the clock," he quipped. Luckily for Trump, his hair only started to flop in his 70s. Sure, it's been picked on for decades — but consistency, right?
Trump and Muir weren't always at odds
It bears mentioning that in the wake of his 2017 interview with Donald Trump, David Muir had fairly polite things to say about the then-first-time president on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." In fact, he even mused that Trump likely wanted to be asked the tough questions. "I wasn't there to create a comfortable situation, a comfortable moment with the president. Honestly, if you ask President Trump, I don't think he would say he would expect that either," Muir said. Muir also told Kimmel that even after things got slightly heated, Trump had nonetheless given the White House tour as planned — an act he deemed "gracious." Wouldn't Winston Churchill be proud?
Fast-forward to the aftermath of the 2024 ABC News presidential debate, and Trump was calling for Muir to be fired, referring to him and his co-moderator Linsey Davis as "lightweight 'anchors.'" He also said their fact-checking tarnished the network's reputation.
In light of all the animosity, like we said, we're not exactly shocked that Muir wasn't asked to interview Trump in April 2025. According to sources who spoke with Page Six, there had been conversations to the effect that neither Muir nor George Stephanopoulos would be welcome to speak with the president. Unfortunately for Trump, speaking to ABC's senior national correspondent didn't mean he avoided pushback ... and unfortunately for Terry Moran, Trump had given up all pretenses of elegance by the time of their conversation. Exhibit A: Trump telling Moran, "I picked you because, frankly, I've never heard of you ... but you're not being very nice." Add that to the pile of uncomfortable confrontations between Donald Trump and reporters – we guess.