By LawInspectsAfter Donald Trump once again became the President of the United States, he went on to take some bold actions, and one of those bold actions resulted in the Trump CBS Lawsuit. Yup, Trump is actually suing CBS, but why? Well, this $20 billion lawsuit came into play when a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview featuring then-Vice President Kamala Harris aired for the general public. According to Trump and many trusted sources, CBS went on with heavy editing of that interview to make Harris look good in the election campaign. Which is, of course, against the law because they made her look more favorable in a crucial election year.
They could have gotten away with it if it weren’t the election years, but sure enough, so many people caught onto the heavy editing of CBS, and that is why this lawsuit exists in the first place. So, let’s get to the details of this case and see what is really going on right now with this case, and what the next steps for Trump as well as CBS can be. Here we go.
What’s Going Wrong Inside CBS?
You see, CBS is actually denying whatever allegations are made against it by saying that editing interviews to fit the time constraints is actually a standard practice, and there is nothing wrong with doing that. But the thing is, there are so many people who believe that the interview was intentionally heavily edited because Harris wanted to look good in the election campaign, so she had something to do with it. And it is pretty clear as well because when you watch that interview, you’ll clearly be able to notice that the host or interviewer is asking different questions and Harris is answering something else, which is possible when the clips are edited too much or cut down the length of the whole interview.
Well, after the lawsuit went public, things began to go kinda south for CBS behind the scenes. How? You see, Wendy McMahon, President of CBS News, resigned in May 2025. The main reason for that was the fact that she didn’t support the way the company was handling this lawsuit, especially because they were thinking of the idea of settling with Trump rather than going to court and defending the company.
Then, just in April, we saw Bill Owens also step down from his position, and for those who don’t know, he is the one who was leading “60 Minutes” for quite a while now. In a statement, he has clearly mentioned that he resigned because within the company, there was too much pressure from top executives, and that hindered his ability to operate and work freely.
If that alone wasn’t enough, then we also say the old-time journalist of CBS, Scott Pelley, who went on-air one day and clearly stated that CBS’s editorial independence was under threat from their parent company.
Meanwhile, CBS’s Parent Company Is Working On a Major Merger
When this big legal drama was going on, CBS’s parent company, which goes by the name Paramount Global, was actually in the talking phase for the merger with Skydance Media. But here is the interesting bit, though: the merger can’t move forward without approval from the U.S. government.
To be precise about that, it is actually the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which oversees media regulations, is the agency that has to approve it. So what? Like, what’s the problem there? Oh, you see, the current FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, is a known Trump supporter, so that would be kinda a tough thing for them to get approval. As per some sources, Brendan Carr is actually demanding the full, unedited version of the Harris interview before he considers the approval. So far, there is no luck. But yeah, if that full, unedited version of the interview comes out and is released for the public to see, it’ll be clear how CBS, along with the Biden Administration or Kamala Harris, were trying to manipulate “60 Minutes” viewers to vote for their party.
A Bigger Strategy? Trump vs. The Media
As U.S. citizens, we all know how Trump has been accusing the national media of spreading fake news. And if he wins this lawsuit, that will prove his point, and this is the very reason why not everyone at CBS is happy with the idea of settling with Trump.