Throughout his first term in office, CNN reporter Jim Acosta was well known for regularly pestering President Donald Trump at press conferences.

Yet it appears that Trump has gotten the last laugh, as his longtime enemy resigned earlier in the week. 

Acosta stepping down from CNN after nearly two decades

As Breitbart reported, Acosta announced to viewers during his final broadcast on Tuesday that he would be departing from CNN.

Acosta announces on air that he's leaving CNN and says, "it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant ... don't give in to the lies" pic.twitter.com/VObFTZJASX

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 28, 2025

"You may have seen some reports about me and this show and after giving all of this some careful consideration, and weighing an alternative time slot CNN offered me, I have decided to move on," Acosta acknowledged.

"I am grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I spent here doing the news. People often ask me if the highlight of my career at CNN was at the White House covering Donald Trump," he continued.

Report cites growing tensions between Acosta and CNN CEO Mark Thompson

"Actually, no. That moment came here," Acosta stated as he held up a photograph which showed him covering then President Barack Obama's trip to Cuba in 2016.

"As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson. It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant," the anchor went on to insist.

Acosta concluded by saying, "I have always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account. I have always tried to do that here at CNN. I plan on doing all of that in the future."

Status News journalist Oliver Darcy previously worked for CNN, and he recently explained that Acosta's relationship with CNN CEO Mark Thompson had deteriorated over the past year.

Acosta was pulled from morning show and offered late-night time spot instead

Specifically, Darcy pointed to how Thompson had opted to remove Acosta from the 10 a.m. program which he had hosted for 11 months.

The move came despite Acosta's positive performance in the role, managing to at times achieve a "higher viewership than programs in the channel’s prime time bloc."

What's more, "Acosta was instead offered the less-than-desirable option of anchoring a show from midnight until 2 a.m. Eastern Time," a slot during which "cable news viewership is at its lowest levels."