The potential move to settle comes in response to a planned merger between Paramount, owner of CBS, and Skydance Media, which will need approval from the next Trump administration. According to people familiar with the matter, officials at both companies have realized that Trump's discontent with CBS News would make the evaluation more difficult than they had expected and that they would need to make compromises to gain approval, which would include setting the lawsuit, the Journal reported.
The transaction is under the jurisdiction of the FCC due to the transfer of broadcast TV licenses held by local CBS-owned stations. Brenden Carr, Trump's incoming Federal Communications Commission Chairman, issued a warning to Paramount executives at a reception late last year following the taping of the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. Carr has publicly echoed similar statements.
Trump's lawsuit against CBS, which is seeking $10 billion in damages, claims that the network engaged in election interference by altering portions of an interview with Harris to favor her presidential campaign. Trump alleged that CB aired two versions of the interview: one on "60 Minutes" and another on "Face the Nation," each of which contained different responses regarding Israel. CBS has stated that it broadcasted a more condensed version of Harris' interview on "60 Minutes."
The issue, according to Trump's lawyers, was "CBS' partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public."
The attorneys further claimed at the time the suit was filed that the edits were in an "attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election - which President Trump is leading - approaches its conclusion."
ABC News recently reached a $15 million defamation settlement with the president-elect after he sued the network for falsely characterizing him as a rapist.
