The president and CEO of CBS News resigned from her position, the latest in an ongoing legal tussle between the network and President Donald Trump that started back in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Wendy McMahon told staff in a memo she was leaving because she had disagreed with the company, according to Reuters.
CBS News is facing a $20 billion lawsuit from Trump over how it edited his former opponent Kamala Harris’ answer to a question on the U.S.-Israeli relationship in an October 2025 interview on “60 Minutes.”
Trump has long railed against the media, and the lawsuit against CBS is playing out amid several pushes from the administration that are alarming press freedom advocates. Here is what to know about the lawsuit.
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Why is Trump suing CBS News?
Trump first filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the network in October over allegations that it deceptively edited a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Harris, his Democratic Party opponent in the presidential election.
Trump raised the claim for damages to $20 billion in February, according to Reuters.
CBS has repeatedly denied the accusations, and legal experts have told the New York Times the lawsuit is “baseless.”
The lawsuit entered mediation last month, signaling that CBS’s parent company Paramount Global could choose to settle, raising concerns over how that may embolden the administration’s increasingly aggressive stance toward major media organizations, the New York Times reported.
Wendy McMahon departure follows Bill Owens’ departure
McMahon’s exit follows the departure of longtime “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens in April.
Owens, who announced he would leave the venerated show at the end of the season, cited concerns about editorial independence, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
Owens said it had “become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,” according to a note to staffers, CBS reported.
Did CBS News edit Kamala Harris’ ’60 Minutes’ interview?
Yes. It is standard practice among news outlets to edit to fit time or space constraints, experts previously told USA TODAY.
During a teaser clip for the interview on Oct. 6 on “Face the Nation” when Bill Whitaker asks Harris about the U.S.-Israeli relationship, viewers see a different video response from the vice president than on the subsequent “60 Minutes” broadcast on Oct. 7.
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Trump suing CBS? What to know after Wendy McMahon resignation
