After a three day hiatus, Jimmy Kimmel returned to ABC. Whether you love him or hate him, a lot of people watched him to see what he would have to say. Apparently, this did not please Trump.

While Trump and his surrogates claimed that his “indefinite suspension” had nothing to do with FCC chair Brendan Carr’s threatening ABC that “we can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way,” or Trump’s saying mean things about him is illegal and ABC’s license should be taken away, Trump cut them off at the knees by his twit making clear that Kimmel’s “cancellation” was all about late night comedians being mean to him.

But it’s worth noting that in his twit, Trump brought up the $16 million ABC paid to buy peace with Trump to settle a frivolous suit against George Stephanopoulos (whom Trump wittily calls “‘George Slopodopoulos”). ABC didn’t get its money’s worth.

Not only has the payment been used over and over to misleadingly smear ABC as proof that it defamed Trump, but it’s now being used as all-purpose evidence that any time anything happens at ABC that makes Trump sad, he can play the extortion game again and get more money out of them, all of which goes into his personal pocket.

In the post-Kimmel twit, Trump’s novel theory is that ABC is broadcasting “99% positive Democrat GARBAGE” (also worth noting is that Trump uses “Democrat,” as opposed to “Democratic,” reminiscent of the infantile scheme of the #Resistance that refused to write “Trump” and used “Tr*mp” in its place). Based upon this, Trump alleges that it was an illegal contribution to the DNC and he’s going back to the well to demand more cash from ABC.

Thus far, this scheme has served Trump well with universities, law firms, corporations and smaller countries, where business decisions were made that it was more effective to placate someone for whom no boundaries existed as to the abuse of power he was exert and the harm he would cause if they failed to capitulate. It didn’t matter if the courts would eventually rule against his excesses, unlawful or unconstitutional abuse, whether because the Supreme Court would ultimately smooth his path or because the damage would already be done before any final outcome could be reached.

Did ABC and Disney squander $16 million in its misguided effort to buy Trump’s love? It certainly looks that way, as it didn’t even slow down Brendan Carr’s threats to punish the network for its being mean to Trump and his friends. Regardless of what one thought about Kimmel’s Charlie Kirk monologue, it was hardly the earth-shattering slur it was made out to be. It could just as easily have been tsk-ed and then passed over, like Tom Homan’s Cava bag of loot. Instead, it was turned into a cause célèbre and milked for all it was worth.

And it may yet prove to be another source of revenue for Trump, who hasn’t done too poorly with his net worth since taking office again.

Will this experience prove enlightening, whether for ABC or others, that there is no buying peace with Trump? As I’ve argued in the past, Trump has two, and only two, motivations, self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment. One might think that his pomposity and braggadocio would be off-putting to many of his followers, but apparently not. One might think that his use of office to cash out for himself and his family (think $2 billion from United Arab Emirates, or maybe his sale of merch from sneakers to watches to the ubiquitous “Trump Was Right About Everything” hats) would be off-putting to many of his followers. Not that either.

But if you thought Trump was at least an honest politician in the Simon Cameron sense of getting bought and staying bought, take a lesson from ABC. Trump can’t be bought because he will continue to take as long as he can get away with it.