CBS Denounces Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit

In a sharply worded filing with a Texas federal court, CBS has reiterated its stance that former President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against the network, targeting its 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, is “meritless” and an attack on “bedrock First Amendment principles.” The network’s latest response, submitted on June 23, 2025, dismisses Trump’s claims as an attempt to undermine protected journalistic practices and editorial freedom.

Trump’s lawsuit alleges that the 60 Minutes interview, aired in October 2024, was deceptively edited to portray Harris favorably, causing him “mental anguish” and diverting viewer attention from his campaign and his social media platform, Truth Social. He further contends that the interview’s promotion on CBS’s Face the Nation constituted “false advertising and tampering,” violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and diminishing the value of his Trump Media and Technology Group and other media ventures.

CBS counters that Trump’s legal team has failed to provide any evidence supporting the claim that the 60 Minutes interview or its Face the Nation promotion qualifies as commercial speech. “Plaintiffs offer nothing that would support the conclusion that these broadcasts—involving an interview with a presidential candidate on matters of paramount public importance—are anything but fully protected editorial speech,” the filing states. 

CBS emphasizes that no legal precedent exists to classify news broadcasts or their promotions as commercial speech, citing multiple Supreme Court rulings that affirm the First Amendment’s robust protections for journalistic content.

The network also challenges Trump’s standing to sue, arguing that his claims of “intangible harms” like mental anguish are too vague and shared by the public at large to constitute a valid injury. “Accepting such a theory would open the floodgates to thousands of consumer claims from individuals who simply disagree with a news organization’s editorial decisions,” CBS warns. The filing concludes that Trump has not plausibly demonstrated a specific “injury to a commercial interest in reputation or sales” required to sustain his claims.