President Donald Trump has scored another major legal victory against the corporate media, with CBS and parent company Paramount Global agreeing to pay a settlement that could exceed $30 million.
The huge settlement is in response to the president’s lawsuit over alleged election interference.
According to Fox News, the settlement includes a $16 million upfront payout covering legal fees, case costs, and funding for future charitable or presidential library endeavors, at President Trump’s discretion.
In addition, sources close to the case say the network will allocate a mid-eight-figure sum toward “advertisements, PSAs, or similar transmissions” promoting conservative causes, a notable shift for one of the legacy media’s most liberal networks.
The agreement comes after Trump sued CBS for its editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump accused the network of deliberately manipulating the segment to shield Harris from backlash in the final weeks leading up to the 2024 election.
“With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,” a Trump legal spokesperson said in a statement.
“CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.”
CBS is not admitting wrongdoing, but the terms of the settlement speak volumes.
The network has agreed to a new editorial mandate insiders are calling the “Trump Rule,” requiring CBS to release full, unedited transcripts of presidential candidate interviews going forward.
Trump’s $20 billion suit centered on CBS News’ handling of a 2024 exchange between Harris and “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker.
In the aired interview, Harris stumbled through a rambling response about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, sparking online mockery for what many called a “word salad.”
But when the primetime special aired, CBS substituted the awkward clip with a cleaner, more concise answer, sparking accusations that the network engaged in political damage control on Harris’s behalf.
The FCC later confirmed that both clips came from the same exchange.
CBS had simply edited out the unfavorable portion when it aired on “Face the Nation” to help Harris’s campaign.
That prompted Trump to declare the network had perpetrated a fraud on the American public, and the courts agreed there was a case to answer.
As part of the fallout, longtime “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens resigned in April, citing frustration over internal politics and pressure.
Owens had reportedly resisted any form of apology or settlement, and his departure signaled deeper rifts inside CBS.
In May, CBS News President Wendy McMahon stepped down, releasing a memo that said it was “clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward.”
Even within the network, the idea of settling with Trump sparked fierce resistance.
According to Fox, “60 Minutes” reporters and producers were “unanimously against” any payout, with one veteran producer calling the case “complete bulls—.”
Adding pressure to the case was a probe by FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who ordered CBS to hand over unedited transcripts and footage as part of a federal investigation into potential violations of the agency’s “news distortion” policy.
CBS initially refused, but eventually complied under pressure.
Behind the scenes, Paramount’s pending merger with Skydance Media likely accelerated the timeline.
Reports suggest controlling shareholder Shari Redstone was eager to avoid further conflict with the Trump administration’s FCC, which holds the power to greenlight or block media mergers.
In May, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and eight Senate Democrats sent a letter to Redstone urging CBS not to settle, calling it a “grave mistake” and “a blatant attempt to intimidate the media.”
But Trump’s legal team stayed the course, and mediation ultimately led to the massive payout.
The settlement one that dwarfs the $15 million payout ABC News gave to Trump last year after George Stephanopoulos falsely claimed the president was “found liable for rape” in a civil case.
Trump, who is pushing to sign his $3.3 trillion “One Big, Beautiful Bill” by July 4, now adds this CBS victory to a growing list of media and legal wins ahead of the 2025 election cycle.
“They cheated and defrauded the American People at levels never seen before in the Political Arena,” Trump wrote in April.
“Kamala Harris… was asked a question, and gave an answer, that was so bad and incompetent that it would have cost her many of the Votes that she ended up getting.”
The settlement does not include a formal apology from CBS and does not allocate any funds directly to Trump personally.
But the message is clear: CBS blinked and Trump once again forced the corporate media to face the consequences of their bias.
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