By Helen Coster
NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday attacked the new owners of CBS over a “60 Minutes” interview with his former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, on the same day that CBS owners Paramount Skydance launched a hostile bid for media giant Warner Bros. Discovery.
The CBS news program “60 Minutes” on Sunday aired an interview with Greene, a Republican from Georgia who last month said she was resigning from the House of Representatives in the wake of a dramatic falling out with Trump.
In his Monday Truth Social post Trump wrote: “My real problem with the show, however, wasn’t the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME! Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!”
Trump also demanded a “complete and total apology” from the show and its correspondent Lesley Stahl, for what he claimed were “incorrect and Libelous” statements about a laptop belonging to former President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
A representative for CBS News did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Paramount Skydance on Monday made a $108 billion offer for Warner Bros. Discovery. Its $30-per-share cash offer includes financing from Affinity Partners, the investment firm run by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Paramount Skydance was formed in August after Skydance Media, owned by David Ellison, the son of Trump supporter and Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison, took control of Paramount in a deal worth $8.4 billion.
David Ellison helped secure regulatory approval for Skydance Media to buy Paramount with the promise that the CBS network would reflect the “varied ideological perspectives” of American viewers.
Prior to the deal, Paramount paid $16 million to settle a 2024 lawsuit Trump filed over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, which he claimed gave a distorted view of his rival for the White House. Before settling, CBS called the accusations meritless.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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