Fighting Trump will make or break Disney’s new CEO

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FollowSee All PolicyFighting Trump will make or break Disney’s new CEOJosh D’Amaro is already defining his legacy by pushing back against the Trump era FCC. by Charles Pulliam-Moore Charles Pulliam-MooreFilm & TV ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Charles Pulliam-MooreMay 13, 2026, 7:15 PM UTC Getty Images Charles Pulliam-Moore Charles Pulliam-MoorePosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

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FollowSee All by Charles Pulliam-Moore is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years. A week ago, newly appointed Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro was busy regaling investors with plans to turn Disney Plus into the company’s “digital centerpiece.

” By last Friday, though, his attention had presumably shifted to a fight with the Trump administration over free speech. Disney-owned ABC has now accused the administration of violating its First Amendment rights with an ongoing investigation into The View. D’Amaro — the former head of Disney’s parks division — might have wanted his legacy to be defined by corporate synergy and a souped-up version of Disney Plus.

But this fight with Donald Trump and the Federal Communications Commission is likely to be the first thing that defines his tenure. In its recent filing to the FCC, ABC claimed that the agency is threatening free speech with its ongoing investigation into whether The View violated the “equal time” rule, which requires radio and TV broadcasters to provide competing political candidates with equal access and time. Ahead of this year’s midterm elections, The View ran segments featuring James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett — two Texas Democratic candidates running for Senate seats — and the FCC seems to be taking issue with the fact that the show did not invite any Republican politicians to speak on camera.

RelatedThe FCC is going after the broadcast licenses of Disney-owned ABC stationsTrump demands ABC fire Jimmy KimmelFormer FCC staffers agree: Brendan Carr needs to be stoppedABC’s filing notes that The View was given an exemption from the equal time rule “more than twenty years ago” because it is a “bona fide news interview program. ” The company also insisted that, by attacking The View, the FCC is taking action that will “chill core First Amendment-protected speech for years and potentially decades to come.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.