ABC News Anchor Leaks Details about His Private Phone Call With Trump Hours After Election Victory — and Compares The Don's Remarks to 'Breaking Bad' Meth King Walter White
Karl compared talking to Trump after his big 2024 win to a 'Breaking Bad' villain.
Oct. 28 2025, Published 4:27 p.m. ET
ABC News' Chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl shared the chilling story of a phone call with then-President-Elect Donald Trump after he won the 2024 election, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Karl, 54, recalled the moment during an appearance on The View on Tuesday, October 28, while promoting his new book Retribution. The longtime journalist compared Trump's actions to those of Breaking Bad's notorious drug kingpin Walter White, menacingly played by Bryan Cranston.
Establishing a Bond
Karl's new book chronicles Trump's race for the White House in 2024.
Karl revealed he "started to have a series of phone calls" and conversations with Trump shortly after the July 2024 assassination attempt on the tycoon's life in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The two began to bond after Karl told him he was "horrified by what happened" and made sure Trump was OK.
The ABC personality noted how Trump went on to "win big" on election night in November 2024. After staying up all night for news coverage and an appearance on Good Morning America, "I do something silly. I call Donald Trump."
Karl thought there was "No way he's going to pick up" and planned to leave him a congratulatory message, only to have Trump answer the call.
'Say My Name'
Behar found Trump's behavior on his call with Karl annoying.
"His voice, he hadn't slept at all. I hadn't slept," Karl said of their exhausted state of mind.
"I said, 'Mr. President-elect, I just want to say congratulations.' And he pauses."
Trump replied, "On what, Jonathan, on what? Say it," while imitating the New York native's famous vocal intonations.
Karl went on to recall the "great scene" in Breaking Bad involving Walter White, "Where it's like, 'Say name, say my name,'" as the fictional meth lord was making a power move on a rival.
"So I said, 'On the greatest comeback victory in the history of American politics.' But he wanted to hear me say the words," Karl noted about the conversation.
Panelist Joy Behar scoffed, "That's so needy," about her arch-enemy, Trump.
Easy Access
Karl covered Trump's first term as president and is covering his second term as well.
Karl praised Trump for being so available to one-on-one calls with members of the media, even though the president has called out ABC as "fake news" on numerous occasions.
"I've covered a lot of presidential campaigns. I've covered several presidents. There's none other that I've ever been able to call up on the phone," the longtime political reporter dished, saying how he'd always had to go through their "people."
While covering the 2024 race, "It was easier to get Donald Trump on the phone than to get the deputy press secretary for the Kamala Harris campaign," Karl revealed.
'He Loves the Engagement'
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Karl said Trump is 'very complimentary' to him both in phone calls an in person.
The correspondent explained why he believes Trump is willing to give personal access like no other leader before him.
"He spends a lot of time talking. He loves the engagement," Karl said of Trump, and that the real estate magnate often had questions for him, noting he'd ask, "What are you hearing? What's going on? How's it looking?"
While Karl noted that Trump had gotten "angry" with him a couple of times over the phone, he's for the most part "very positive and very complimentary" in their conversations.
