Paramount pays $16 million; the FCC clears its merger three weeks later

Editor's note: an official record shows the merger approval, and reporting documents the settlement payment to his library fund, but no official record establishes that payment.

Trump sued CBS in October 2024 over the editing of a 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview - a suit CBS's own lawyers called meritless and First Amendment scholars considered frivolous. With Paramount's $8 billion Skydance merger awaiting FCC approval, controlling shareholder Shari Redstone favored settling to avoid retaliation; on July 1-2, 2025, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million, most of it earmarked for Trump's presidential library, plus a commitment to publish future candidate-interview transcripts.

Trump himself then said the deal was bigger: 'we anticipate' another $20 million in advertising and PSAs for causes he supports, putting the total 'as much as $35 million.' Sixteen days after the settlement, CBS cancelled The Late Show days after Stephen Colbert called the payment 'a big fat bribe' on air. On July 24, Carr's FCC approved the merger via the Media Bureau - no full Commission vote - with Skydance committing to install an ombudsman over CBS News and end DEI programs; Commissioner Anna Gomez dissented, citing 'never before seen controls' over a newsroom. The deal closed August 7.

Warren, Sanders and Wyden had warned in writing that 'it is illegal to corruptly give anything of value to federal officials to influence an official act'; Raskin and Pallone opened a House inquiry demanding communications between Ellison, the Trump Organization, the FCC and the administration. Trump later drew the lesson himself, saying of ABC in September: 'Last time I went after [ABC], they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.'