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Donald Trump has suggested that TV networks that criticize him should have their licenses revoked after Jimmy Kimmel was indefinitely pulled off the air.
The U.S. president was speaking to reporters on Air Force One after a second state visit to the U.K. when he made the comments.
“I have read some place that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily,” Trump said.
- Donald Trump suggested TV networks critical of him should have their licenses revoked, citing 97% negative coverage.
- Trump made his comments aboard Air Force One during a UK visit amid Jimmy Kimmel's indefinite suspension.
- Kimmel was pulled after remarks about Charlie Kirk's killing, wrongly implying the suspect was a MAGA supporter.
Donald Trump suggested TV stations should lose their licenses for criticizing him
Image credits: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“They give me only bad publicity [and] press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”
He continued: “When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump.
“They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.”
The comments come after late-night show host Kimmel was indefinitely suspended on Wednesday following remarks he made about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Trump: “When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump… They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.”
We CANNOT normalize this.
HE IS NOT GOING TO STOP. pic.twitter.com/OTAylLXUYo
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 18, 2025
Kirk, a right-wing activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck and killed at Utah Valley University on September 10.
On Monday’s show of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel addressed the incident and appeared to suggest that suspect Tyler Robinson was a MAGA supporter.
Robinson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder following Kirk’s death, and authorities say he had a left-wing ideology.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel had said.
Kimmel was pulled off the air this week
Not a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel, but if you think his show should be canceled for this, you’re a hack and a total fraud who should never pretend to care about free speech pic.twitter.com/FSiktbva6y
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 17, 2025
He then likened Trump’s grief over Kirk’s murder to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, criticized the comments and suggested TV stations could be penalized by the FCC if they didn’t take action.
Nexstar, one of the biggest TV owners in the U.S., announced it would pull Kimmel’s show for the foreseeable future, and then Sinclair, which operates ABC stations in 30 markets, followed suit.
Nexstar is currently trying to secure FCC approval for a $6.2bn merger with media company Tegna.
Disney-owned ABC then pulled Kimmel’s show from the air indefinitely.
Image credits: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation
It was Carr Trump referenced on Air Force One when he spoke of revoking licenses, saying the power ultimately lay with him, and describing him as “outstanding.”
The decision to suspend Kimmel has been sharply criticized by many, with critics warning it is an alarming action against free speech in the U.S.
Former President Barack Obama said the actions of the Trump administration were dangerous.
“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” he wrote on X.
“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”
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