Today The White House announced its healthcare plan. ABC’s World News Tonight was the sole broadcast network nightly newscast to cover the announcement. However, ABC’s coverage consisted of a litany of talking points seemingly aimed at rebutting the announcement, more in line with a Democrat press release.
Watch the report in its entirety, as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Thursday, January 15th, 2026 (click “expand” to view full transcript):
DAVID MUIR: Tonight, with more than 20 million Americans seeing their health insurance premiums skyrocketing, with Republicans blocking any extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies, tonight President Trump now unveiling what he says is his plan, but there are many questions. Here’s Mary Bruce.
BRUCE: As millions of Americans watch health insurance premiums skyrocket, tonight, after promising his own health care plan for more than a decade, President Trump finally unveiling what he calls his great health care plan. But health care policy experts tell us it leaves more questions than answers.
DONALD TRUMP: The government is going to pay the money directly to you. It goes to you and then you take the money and buy your own health care.
BRUCE: He did not explain how that would happen. His plan light on details. Just a few paragraphs on the White House website. Officials calling it a “framework” and a “broad direction.”
How exactly would this work and can the president assure Americans this will be enough to cover their healthcare costs? White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt implying Congress would flesh out the specifics.
KAROLINE LEAVITT: Congress and The White House are going to work together to put this plan into action.
BRUCE: The president also wants Congress to turn into law deals he already struck with pharmaceutical companies to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. And he wants insurance companies to be more transparent about their rates. In a new poll, 52% of voters say President Trump has hurt the cost of health care. This month, insurance premiums have soared for more than 20 million Americans after Republicans let subsidies in the Affordable Care Act expire. Astrid Story, a graphic designer and mom from Denver, Colorado who is battling thyroid cancer, saw her monthly premium rise 35% from 1,400 to $1,900.
ASTRID STORY: How is that fair? How is that fair to a cancer patient that their first thought has to be am I going to be able to afford the treatment that is going to keep me alive?
BRUCE: And again, David, there are very few details in the president's plan about how much money Americans would get and whether this would cover their healthcare costs. And all this as 20 million Americans are seeing their insurance premiums soar right now. David.
MUIR: Mary Bruce back with us tonight. Thank you, Mary.
The report begins, as is quite often the case at ABC, with an overwrought David Muir introduction that could have well served as its own brief. In a single sentence, Muir establishes that premiums are skyrocketing, that it’s the Republicans’ fault, and that Trump’s plan may not do enough to address it. And then he tosses to Mary Bruce!
Bruce then rehashes all of those talking points. After knocking the ambiguities of Trump’s statement, Bruce goes back to blaming Republicans for insurance premium hikes.
Bruce then elicits victim testimony from someone who had a rate increase, before going back to knocking the ambiguity of the press release and blaming Republicans again for the rise in premium costs.
Not once did Brice cite the document, or delve into the reasons premiums increased. For that matter, she didn’t mention that Democrats just shut the government down in order to force a House vote on subsidy extensions. Neither is there any mention of why there were subsidies in the first place or why they were allowed to sunset, or who voted for the sunset provision.
All of these things would’ve blown up the underlying premise of Mary Bruce’s report, which is to blame the Bad Orange Man for all the current suck in our healthcare system. Instead we get her at her Mary Bruciest- the Democrats’ most reliable water carrier.
