Paramount Global will pay $16 million to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit accusing CBS’s “60 Minutes” of deceptive editing, closing a nine-month fight that unsettled the newsroom and shadowed the company’s planned $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media.
The money will go to Trump’s future presidential library, with no payment to him or co-plaintiff Rep. Ronny Jackson, and the agreement carries no admission of wrongdoing by Paramount. Paramount declined to apologise, while Trump’s lawyers framed the outcome as proof he can “hold the fake news media accountable”.
The case focused on two versions of a 2024 Kamala Harris interview that the complaint said offered conflicting answers on Israel, harming Trump’s campaign prospects. Filed in Amarillo, Texas, under a consumer-protection statute, the suit initially sought $10 billion, later $20 billion, before mediation steered both sides to Tuesday’s settlement figure.
CBS had branded the claims meritless and in February released full transcripts and footage to rebut distortion accusations. Talks intensified after a judge let the case proceed; confidential sessions in April and June produced the $16 million deal and a requirement that “60 Minutes” publish transcripts of future presidential-candidate interviews, subject to legal or security redactions.
Press advocates warn the concession may invite further suits and chill aggressive reporting. The Freedom of the Press Foundation has threatened separate action against Paramount’s board for what it calls an exchange of editorial independence for regulatory goodwill.
Company insiders acknowledge that a quiet White House eases prospects for the Skydance merger, though Paramount insists the issues are unrelated. The deal mirrors earlier media settlements with Trump—ABC News paid $15 million in December and Meta $25 million in January—illustrating his broader litigation strategy against major outlets.
Inside CBS, the dispute has already prompted the departures of “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens and news chief Wendy McMahon, both critics of settling. Legal scholars note that consumer-protection laws rarely govern journalistic editing, suggesting CBS might have prevailed at trial, yet Paramount opted to “buy peace” and remove a hurdle to its corporate agenda.
