Trump defends Fox News' O'Reilly amid sexual misconduct allegations

— -- President Donald Trump has defended embattled Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who has come under intense scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct.

On Saturday, an investigation published by The New York Times detailed allegations of settlement payments from the network and the host to five women who had accused O'Reilly of sexual harassment or misconduct.

Since then, at least 50 companies have withdrawn advertisements from his top-rated show.

"I think he shouldn't have settled; personally I think he shouldn't have settled," President Trump said in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday. "Because you should have taken it all the way. I don't think Bill did anything wrong."

Trump made the comments in the Oval Office, according to the Times, while "surrounded at his desk by a half-dozen of his highest-ranking aides."

Last week, Trump declared April "National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month," saying "we all share the responsibility to reduce and ultimately end sexual violence," in a White House press release.

Just days prior to that, Trump's lawyers claimed immunity from a defamation lawsuit brought by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on Trump's reality show, "The Apprentice," who said Trump made unwanted sexual contact with her. Zervos was one of several women who came forward during the 2016 presidential campaign saying that Trump had behaved inappropriately toward them. Trump has denied all allegations leveled against him.

Trump denied Zervos' claims in a court filing as “unfounded accusations” that are “false, legally insufficient and made in a transparent politically-motivated attack.”

The story published by the New York Times on Saturday said that that 21ST Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, and O'Reilly had paid some $13 million in settlements to five women who made misconduct accusations against the host. Some of the settlements reported in the Times story were already known and date back to 2004. ABC News has not been able to independently verify new information in the Times story.

Asked about the Times' investigation, 21st Century Fox, Fox News' parent company, said in a statement that it "takes matters of workplace behavior very seriously."

"Notwithstanding the fact that no current or former Fox News employee ever took advantage of the 21st Century Fox hotline to raise a concern about Bill O'Reilly, even anonymously, we have looked into these matters over the last few months and discussed them with Mr. O'Reilly. While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O'Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility. Mr. O'Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News," the statement continued.

In a statement posted on his website on April 1, O'Reilly wrote, in part: "Just like other prominent and controversial people, I'm vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity. In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline."

He said that the "worst part" of his job was "being a target for those who would harm me and my employer," and his "primary efforts will continue to be to put forth an honest TV program and to protect those close to me."

On Monday, Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky filed a lawsuit against Ailes and current Fox News President Bill Shine.

Ailes’ lawyer Susan Estrich called Roginsky’s allegations “total hogwash.” Fox News has not commented on the lawsuit.

Roginsky's allegations are the latest in a string of misconduct allegations leveled against employees of the company.

Last summer, former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes resigned from the company after being accused of sexual misconduct by former network mainstay Gretchen Carlson.

Ailes denied the allegations as "false" and "offensive" but Carlson ultimately received a settlement valued at $20 million, according to a source familiar with the deal.

Several other women who worked at Fox News came out with harassment and misconduct claims of their own after Carlson's lawsuit became public.

Shortly after Ailes' resignation, Trump defended him, telling NBC's Meet the Press: "He's been a friend of mine for a long time. And, I can tell you that some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he's helped them."

"When they write books that are fairly recently released, and they say wonderful things about him. And now, all of a sudden, they're saying these horrible things about him," Trump said at the time. "It's very sad because he's a very good person. I've always found him to be just a very, very good person. And, by the way, a very, very talented person. Look what he's done. So I feel very badly."

ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report from New York.