There is no David Muir lawsuit. No legal action has been filed by or against the ABC World News Tonight anchor, and Donald Trump, the person most often named in the rumor, publicly denied suing him. The confusion traces to three separate things that got tangled together online: Trump’s angry reaction to Muir’s fact-checking during the September 2024 presidential debate, a real defamation lawsuit Trump filed against a different ABC anchor (George Stephanopoulos), and fabricated social media posts using Muir’s name.
Trump Said Directly He Is Not Suing Muir
On September 27, 2024, roughly two weeks after the ABC debate, Trump addressed the rumor on Truth Social. “I am not suing David Muir!” he wrote. “I should sue him, but there is not enough time—I’m too busy winning the Election…” He called the reports “FAKE NEWS” and described Muir as a “Lightweight Anchor” at “ABC FAKE NEWS.”1Yahoo News. Donald Trump Crush David Muir Trump linked the rumor to his complaints about what he called “constant and unagreed to interruptions” during the debate.2Alternet. Trump Sue ABC News
No filing naming Muir has appeared in any court since. The persistent claim that he is being sued, or is suing someone, has no documentary basis.
The Real ABC Lawsuit Was Against George Stephanopoulos
The lawsuit people are usually thinking of when they search for a David Muir case is Trump v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., filed March 18, 2024, in the Southern District of Florida. It named ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, not Muir.3CourtListener. Trump v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 1:24-cv-21050
The defamation claim grew out of a March 10, 2024, episode of This Week in which Stephanopoulos repeatedly told Representative Nancy Mace that Trump had been “found liable for rape.” A 2023 civil jury in the E. Jean Carroll case had actually found Trump liable for “sexual abuse.” The presiding judge later noted the finding was consistent with a broader, colloquial use of the word “rape,” but the jury itself did not use that word.4BBC. ABC News Settles Defamation Lawsuit
Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga presided, and a trial was initially set for April 2025. ABC moved to dismiss in May 2024. On December 13, 2024, a federal magistrate judge ordered both Trump and Stephanopoulos to sit for four-hour depositions.5POLITICO. Trump ABC Stephanopoulos Settlement The next day, the parties announced a settlement.
Under the terms filed on December 14, 2024, Disney agreed to pay $15 million to a foundation and museum to be established for Trump, plus $1 million toward his legal fees. ABC News and Stephanopoulos issued a statement saying they “regret” the remarks, and an editor’s note was appended to the online version of the original broadcast article.6The New York Times. Trump ABC Settlement The case was terminated on December 16, 2024.3CourtListener. Trump v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 1:24-cv-21050
Muir is not a party to that case and is not named in the filings.
Why People Think Muir Was Sued
The rumor gained traction because of the September 10, 2024, ABC presidential debate in Philadelphia, which Muir moderated with Linsey Davis. Unlike the earlier CNN-hosted debate, whose moderators declined to offer real-time corrections, Muir and Davis fact-checked several of Trump’s claims live.7CNN. ABC Moderators Debate Fact Check Trump Harris False Claims
The most-quoted moment came when Trump repeated a rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating residents’ pets. Muir cited Springfield’s city manager, who said there were “no credible reports” supporting the claim. Muir also pushed back on Trump’s crime statistics, noting that FBI data showed violent crime declining nationally.8The New York Times. Debate Moderators Trump Harris Davis corrected Trump’s claim that Democrats supported “executing” babies after birth, stating that no state permits killing a baby after it is born.9Maine Morning Star. Three to One: Republicans Protest Presidential Debate Fact-Checking Unfair to Trump
Trump and his allies described the debate as “three to one.” Donald Trump Jr. accused the moderators of fact-checking only his father. Trump himself called for ABC to “lose its license to broadcast.”10USA Today. Trump ABC Debate Dispute That public anger, combined with the pre-existing Stephanopoulos suit, is what seeded the online belief that Muir was being sued too.
Fabricated Posts Using Muir’s Name
Muir has also been the target of unrelated misinformation that some readers may be conflating with a lawsuit. In January 2026, a viral Facebook post falsely claimed Muir had issued an on-air warning about the imposition of martial law and the cancellation of the midterm elections. Fact-checkers reviewed his broadcasts from January 10 through 13, 2026, and found no such remarks. The post carried the hallmarks of AI-generated content built to drive traffic to ad-filled blogs.11Let’s Data Science. David Muir Faces Fabricated On-Air Claim
That fabrication is not a lawsuit either, and no legal action has followed from it as far as the public record shows. If you have seen a post claiming Muir is suing, being sued, or has been sanctioned by a court, treat it with the same skepticism: check the docket, check a reputable news source, and check whether the account sharing it exists to sell clicks.
The Short Answer
If you searched for a David Muir lawsuit hoping to find a case name, court, or docket number, there isn’t one. The $15 million ABC settlement you may have read about involved George Stephanopoulos. Trump said on the record that he is not suing Muir. Everything else circulating under Muir’s name traces back to debate-night criticism or invented social media content.