For years, Donald Trump has railed against the Fake News Media, rallying millions of loyal supporters – myself included – to his side with promises to expose their corruption and lies. The battle against media dishonesty became a cornerstone of his brand, a cause that many Americans rallied behind as they poured their trust—and millions of dollars—into his legal defense funds. Yet, in a stunning move that reeks of betrayal, Trump has chosen to settle a lawsuit with ABC News over their outright lies about him for a paltry $15 million donation to his future presidential library. This wasn’t just any lawsuit. Trump had the rare opportunity to depose ABC’s top figures, including George Stephanopoulos, and gain access to their internal communications through discovery. For once, he had the tools to pull back the curtain on how the mainstream media manufactures narratives and undermines public trust. But instead of fighting to the end, he settled, handing ABC News a victory and squandering what could have been a landmark case in the fight against media defamation. What makes this worse is the sheer triviality of the settlement amount—a fraction of Trump’s net worth and not even a blip on the radar of his supporters who have donated their hard-earned money to his legal battles. A $15 million contribution to a future nonprofit library? It’s a joke, and not even a funny one. Trump’s base didn’t support him to see him enrich his own vanity projects. We backed him to fight back against a system that is rigged against ordinary Americans. Instead of taking this case to the Supreme Court and fighting to reform defamation laws, Trump sold out. Instead of standing firm and exposing the inner workings of the media elite, he chose an easy payout that barely amounts to a slap on the wrist for ABC. And now, in the ultimate irony, the man who decried fake news has gifted the media a way to claim vindication, while his loyal supporters are left stunned and disappointed. For years, Trump demanded unwavering loyalty from his supporters. Now, with this settlement, he’s shown just how little he values ours. The people who stuck with him through thick and thin deserved better. They deserved a leader willing to see the fight through to the end—not one who cashes out at the first opportunity. This isn’t the Trump we believed in. This is a betrayal, plain and simple. Signed, Boruch R. The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.