--- title: Trump Slams Suspended ABC Reporter Brian Ross Over Error description: Trump celebrated the suspension of ABC News reporter Brian Ross, who incorrectly linked Trump to Michael Flynn in the Russia investigation canonical: https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-03T15:34:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:55.072Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Slams ABC's Brian Ross Over False Flynn Report og:description: Ross was suspended by ABC News on Saturday og:url: https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dfc14bb0006202/6988f3740a4a22c13b9d0e6d/brian-ross-russia-investigation-flynn-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Brian Ross og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Slams ABC's Brian Ross Over False Flynn Report twitter:description: Ross was suspended by ABC News on Saturday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dfc14bb0006202/6988f3740a4a22c13b9d0e6d/brian-ross-russia-investigation-flynn-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Slams Suspended ABC Reporter Brian Ross Over False Report He Ordered Flynn's Russia Contact > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Michael Flynn Pleaded Guilty to Lying to the FBI [Watch (HLS stream): Michael Flynn Pleaded Guilty to Lying to the FBI](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/46BLEXw1.m3u8) (2:10)  _Published 2017-12-01. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Dec 3, 2017 3:34 PM UTC  In this Nov. 16, 2015 photo provided by ABC, correspondent Brian Ross speaks on "Good Morning America," which airs on the ABC Television Network, in New York. In this Nov. 16, 2015 photo provided by ABC, correspondent Brian Ross speaks on "Good Morning America," which airs on the ABC Television Network, in New York. Fred Lee—AP  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Dec 3, 2017 3:34 PM UTC President Trump on Sunday celebrated the suspension of ABC News reporter Brian Ross, who incorrectly reported that [Michael Flynn](http://time.com/5045291/michael-flynn-donald-trump-russia-investigation-robert-mueller/) would testify that Trump had instructed him to make contact with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, [pleaded guilty](http://time.com/5045693/michael-flynn-guilty-plea-courtroom/) on Friday for lying to the FBI, as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives who meddled in the 2016 presidential election. It was later reported that Trump’s son-in-law, [Jared Kushner](http://time.com/5046089/jared-kushner-michael-flynn-senior-official/), was the one who told Flynn to contact Russian officials. td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;} “People who lost money when the Stock Market went down 350 points based on the False and Dishonest reporting of Brian Ross of @ABC News (he has been suspended), should consider hiring a lawyer and suing ABC for the damages this bad reporting has caused – many millions of dollars!” Trump [said](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937309279257792512) in a tweet on Sunday. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937145025359761408) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937309279257792512) Ross, the network’s chief investigative correspondent, was suspended on Saturday for four weeks without pay. “We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday,” ABC News said in a [statement](http://abcnews.go.com/US/abc-news-statement-michael-flynn-report/story?id=51536475). “The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process.” On Saturday night, [Trump praised](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937145025359761408) ABC News for suspending Ross and condemned the “Russia, Russia, Russia Witch Hunt.” “Congratulations to @ABC News for suspending Brian Ross for his horrendously inaccurate and dishonest report on the Russia, Russia, Russia Witch Hunt. More Networks and “papers” should do the same with their Fake News!” he said in a tweet. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/"},"headline":"President Trump Slams Suspended ABC Reporter Brian Ross Over False Report He Ordered Flynn's Russia Contact","datePublished":"2017-12-03T15:34:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:55.072Z","description":"Ross was suspended by ABC News on Saturday","url":"https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump","russia","White House","FBI","Michael Flynn","onetime","Russia Investigation","Robert Mueller"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dfc14bb0006202/6988f3740a4a22c13b9d0e6d/brian-ross-russia-investigation-flynn-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73dfc14bb0006202/6988f3740a4a22c13b9d0e6d/brian-ross-russia-investigation-flynn-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Brian Ross","caption":"Brian Ross","creditText":"Fred Lee—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/","name":"President Trump Slams Suspended ABC Reporter Brian Ross Over False Report He Ordered Flynn's Russia Contact"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Michael Flynn Pleaded Guilty to Lying to the FBI","description":"Former national security adviser Michael Flynn has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/46BLEXw1/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-01T15:25:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/46BLEXw1.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/","duration":"PT2M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5046803/brian-ross-abc-news-suspended-donald-trump/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```