Trump Attacks '60 Minutes' For 'Unlawful And Illegal Behavior': Could President Derail Merger?

President Donald Trump has attacked units of media company Paramount Global PARAPARAA and is urging the FCC to fine and punish CBS as the company works to complete its merger with Skydance Media.

What Happened: Trump took to his Truth Social media platform over the weekend to attack CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes," which has been the target of several recent attacks from the president.

"This weekend's ‘BROADCAST' tops them all. They did not one, but TWO major stories on ‘TRUMP,' one having to do with Ukraine, which I say is a War that would never have happened if the 2020 Election had not been RIGGED, in other words, if I were President and, the other story was having to do with Greenland, casting our Country, as led by me, falsely, inaccurately, and fraudulently," Trump said in his post.

The president said he was "honored" to be suing 60 Minutes, CBS and Paramount for their "fraudulent, beyond recognition, reporting."

Trump previously sued the news magazine and media company over their interview with 2024 presidential election candidate Kamala Harris.

The president said that "60 Minutes" is not a news show but a "political operative simply disguised as news."

Trump is encouraging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, whom he appointed, to hold the company responsible for "what they have done."

"CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this," Trump said. He added that he hopes Carr "will impose the maximum fines and punishment" for the company's alleged "unlawful and illegal behavior."

According to Deadline, the weekend’s two "60 Minutes" segments were "pretty standard." One segment featured an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the other featured a journalist interviewing residents of Greenland who oppose the U.S. annexation of the country.

Why It's Important: Trump's latest attack on CBS and "60 Minutes" follows a $20 billion lawsuit against the company for allegedly editing the Kamala Harris interview.

The comments also come with Paramount looking to close its merger with Skydance, which faces regulatory hurdles.

While CBS denied wrongdoing, it is pursuing a mediator to settle Trump's original lawsuit, which could be a move to push the merger forward.

Trump's attack on CBS could pressure Carr and the FCC to punish the network and potentially block the merger to further punish the company. These moves come despite Trump ally Larry Ellison being set to gain majority control of the new media company if the merger goes through.

The merger deadline between Paramount and Skydance expired on April 7 and was automatically extended for 90 days. With Trump putting pressure on CBS and the FCC once again, Paramount may be forced to settle its pending lawsuit with Trump to get its merger through under its current deadline.

PARA Price Action: Paramount stock trades at $10.72 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $9.54 to $14.54. Paramount stock is up 1.4% year-to-date in 2025.

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