Why Trump chose CNN for his Town Hall

Why Trump chose CNN for his Town Hall | GZERO World

Does former president Donald Trump’s CNN Town Hall have anything to do with Fox News? Rumored 2024 GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie thinks the answer is a resounding yes.

On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the former governor of New Jersey theorized that Trump is holding his first televised discussion with 2024 voters on CNN to give a ratings boost to Fox’s principal competitor and punish the network for settling the recent lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.

In settling the lawsuit, Fox News recognized that “certain claims” about Dominion’s voting machines that it repeated during news broadcasts weren’t true, contradicting the lies Trump has been repeating about the 2020 election being rigged.

The town hall will also be a test for moderator Kaitlan Collins, who covered the Trump White House as CNN’s chief White House correspondent in 2021. Democrats worry about Trump repeating misinformation on air, Republicans wonder if it’s even possible he’ll be given a fair shake on CNN.

“There's no question that this is Donald Trump's response to Fox having settled the Dominion Voting Systems case,” Chris Christie tells Ian Bremmer, “In the end I hope that what Fox has learned from this is that authenticity matters and that people should be on the air saying what they really believe.”

Watch the full interview on the upcoming episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, airing on US public television nationwide. Check local listings.

More from GZERO Media

- YouTube

“France has a special message in AI,” says Justin Vaïsse, director general of the Paris Peace Forum. Speaking to GZERO’s Tony Maciulis at the 2025 AI Action Summit in Paris, Vaïsse highlighted France’s diplomatic and technological role in shaping global AI governance.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue eats an ear of corn at the Brabant Farms in Verona, New York, U.S., August 23, 2018. Picture taken August 23, 2018.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

On Donald Trump’s first day in office, he ordered the Agriculture Department to freeze funds for agricultural programs established under the clean-energy portion of Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

President Donald Trump before the Super Bowl.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

In the game “Two Truths and a Lie,” a player discloses three statements, each of which seems both plausible and unexpected. Over his first month in office, President Donald Trump has presented a range of policy prospects as possible. He has also undertaken a wide number of presidential actions. Together, these measures have shifted the global context, leaving partners and rivals to orient to a vastly changing reality and wonder how seriously they should take him.

- YouTube

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Trump envisions Gaza as a Mediterranean paradise, but what does this mean for the region, and how has it been received? In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer breaks down the latest developments.

U.S. President Donald Trump talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House in 2018. On Tuesday, King Abdullah will return to Washington, becoming the first Arab leader to meet with Trump since he returned to the US Presidency.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Donald Trump insists that he will force Palestinians out of the wrecked Gaza Strip and resettle them in neighboring Arab countries, including Jordan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a visit to the Lomonosov Moscow State University, in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 24, 2025.

Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool via REUTERS

What future does Vladimir Putin imagine for Russia? That’s been a crucial question for those in Europe and the United States who want to know what he might want in exchange for peace with Ukraine. A leaked Russian government report offers a few possible answers.

A woman votes during the parliamentary elections, in Pristina, Kosovo, February 9, 2025. R
REUTERS/Florion Goga

The Republic of Kosovo held parliamentary elections on Sunday, and with 88% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Albin Kurti's party, Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination Movement), is ahead with 41% of the vote – a drop from the 50% Kurti got in 2021. This means he will likely need to form a coalition to stay in power.

Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack, are released by Hamas militants as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel on Feb. 8, 2025.

REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners. But the return of Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami, and Or Levy sparked outrage in Israel due to their severely malnourished state.