Paramount agrees to pay Trump $16 million, clearing way for merger deal

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against its subsidiary CBS, clearing a path for the administration to approve the media giant’s multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media.

In a statement seen by CNN on Tuesday night, Paramount said the settlement payment is inclusive of Trump’s legal fees and costs, and that the money will be allocated to his future presidential library instead of being paid to Trump directly. The sum is below the $10 billion (later increased to $20 billion) in damages sought by Trump when he filed the lawsuit in October, alleging that CBS News had deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris to mislead voters during the presidential elections.

The Wall Street Journal reported in May that Trump was willing to drop the complaint in exchange for upwards of $25 million and a public apology. As part of the agreement, Paramount said that it would release transcripts of future 60 Minutes interviews with eligible US presidential candidates, but specified that the settlement “does not include a statement of apology or regret.”

In a statement to The New York Times, a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said the settlement was “another win for the American people” delivered by the president, who was holding “the fake news media accountable. CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.”

While legal experts said the suit was baseless, it placed Paramount under pressure to appease the President as its long-drawn out merger plans with Skydance require approval from the Trump administration. In a statement seen by CNN, Paramount said that “this lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process,” and that it will “abide by the legal process to defend our case.”

The settlement is the latest of several legal agreements made by media and tech companies, law firms, and universities to appease the transactional President and the influence Trump now holds over American institutions.