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Longtime CNN journalist Jim Acosta, who earned Donald Trump’s scorn for hard-hitting questioning during his first presidency, is leaving the news network after executives proposed moving his morning show to midnight.
“I’ve decided to move on,” Acosta said on air on Tuesday. “Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope.”
Acosta worked for CNN for 18 years. He got into a heated exchange with Trump during a press conference in 2018, which spurred the White House to revoke his press pass. It was returned weeks later after the network sued the administration and a federal judge ordered it restored.
Trump on Tuesday posted on his Truth Social site: “Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up. Good luck Jim!”
CNN last week revealed plans to lay off about 200 employees as chief executive Mark Thompson tries to turn around the struggling broadcaster. As part of the shake-up, the network overhauled its programming line-up, moving Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room to the 10am slot, replacing Acosta’s morning show.
CNN proposed to Acosta a new slot of 12am to 2am Eastern time, offering to move him to Los Angeles, where it would be 9pm, said people familiar with the matter.
Critics of the decision suggested CNN was trying to appease Trump. “Looks like CNN is caving to the White House,” former US senator Al Franken said on X.
CNN said the network was thankful for Acosta’s “dedication and commitment”.
“Jim has had a long, distinguished nearly 20-year career at CNN, with a track record of standing up to authority, for the First Amendment and for our journalistic freedoms,” it said.
CNN’s audiences have shrunk substantially in recent years. Just 1.7mn people watched Trump’s inauguration on CNN earlier this month, down from 10mn who tuned in for Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Trump has long expressed contempt for mainstream news media, which he derides as “fake news”.
In her first briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday said she would open up the briefing room to “new media voices” such as “podcasters, social media influencers and content creators”.
