President Trump said his $20 billion lawsuit against Paramount Global and CBS, which alleges “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with then-VP Kamala Harris, is “a true WINNER.” He claimed that Paramount, CBS and “60 Minutes” admitted “to this crime,” when in fact Paramount and CBS have argued that they did nothing wrong in the matter — and called Trump’s suit “an affront to the First Amendment.”
Trump’s comments came as the president’s lawyers and Paramount Global’s legal team were said to be starting mediation Wednesday to determine a potential resolution to the lawsuit. Paramount’s board outlined “acceptable financial terms for a potential settlement with the president” at an April 18 meeting, according to a New York Times report, which did not include details of the dollar amount the company has allegedly settled on.
“The case we have against 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount is a true WINNER. They cheated and defrauded the American People at levels never seen before in the Political Arena,” Trump wrote in a post Wednesday morning on Truth Social, his social-media platform. “Kamala Harris, during Early Voting and, immediately before Election Day, 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. It was a disastrous answer! 60 Minutes and its corporate parents, in order that this not have a negative impact on her, removed and deleted Kamala’s entire answer, every word of it, and replaced it with a response that she gave later on to an entirely different question. The new answer was not good, but it didn’t show Gross Incompetence like the one that was removed by 60 Minutes. In other words, 60 Minutes perpetrated a Giant FRAUD against the American People, the Federal Elections Commission, and the Federal Communications System [sic].”
In the post, Trump suggested that the New York Times — because it reported that “Legal experts have called the suit baseless and an easy victory for CBS” — could “possibly” be “liable for tortious interference, including in Elections, which we are intently studying.”
“Despite all of the above, and Paramount’s/CBS’/60 Minutes’ admittance to this crime and, with other similar corrupt removals of answers to questions, the Failing New York Times, which is Fake News both in writing and polling, claims that ‘people’ said that the case is baseless,” the president wrote. “They don’t mean that, they just have a non curable case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, possibly to the point where the Times’ interjection makes them liable for tortious interference, including in Elections, which we are intently studying.”
Trump concluded his post by asserting: “The bottom line is that what 60 Minutes and its corporate owners have committed is one of the most egregious illegalities in Broadcast History. Nothing like this, the illegal creation of an answer for a Presidential Candidate, has ever been done before, they have to pay a price for it, and the Times should also be on the hook for their likely unlawful behavior. It is vital to hold these Liars and Fraudsters accountable!”
A Paramount Global rep declined to comment.
Trump sued CBS a few days before the November 2024 presidential election, alleging that CBS News‘ “60 Minutes” report violated a Texas consumer protection law by deceptively editing an interview with Harris. Earlier this year, the president expanded the lawsuit, alleging an additional claim under the federal Lanham Act and seeking at least $20 billion in damages.
In March, Paramount moved to dismiss Trump’s suit, filing two motions to dismiss the case (one for lack of jurisdiction and the other on grounds that consumer fraud laws do not govern editorial speech). “If the First Amendment means anything, it means that public officials like Plaintiffs cannot hold news organizations like CBS liable for the simple exercise of editorial judgment,” the Paramount motion said. “Whether Plaintiffs believe the entire unedited Interview should have aired or only edited in a way they approve, they are not entitled under the First Amendment to demand only news that fits their wishes.”
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