Unexpected twist: Just hours ago, Trump responded to CBS’s $20 billion settlement offer for the 60 Minutes case, and it took everyone by surprise… more.

President Donald Trump has rejected a multi-million dollar offer from CBS News to settle his dispute over the 60-minute interview.

Nearly a month after negotiations began to resolve Trump’s explosive $20 billion demand against the chain, reports confirm that Paramount Global has quietly offered $15 million to make the scandal go away.

But Trump has criticized the chain’s proposal, calling it “not even close,” and is demanding tens of millions more (at least $25 million) along with a formal apology.

The lawsuit, filed last October, accuses CBS, its parent company Paramount and its flagship show 60 Minutes of deceptively editing a high-stakes interview with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris just weeks before the 2024 election.

Trump claims the images were manipulated to “skew the balance” in Harris’ favor and irreparably damage her image with voters.

CBS backs down on the accusation and claims the broadcast was not distorted or misleading. It calls the accusations “completely false.”

But legal and political fallout now threatens to derail a much larger deal: Paramount’s $8.4 billion merger with Skydace Media, which is currently under review by Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The rejection of CBS’s settlement offer comes as Trump threatens to block billions of dollars in federal approvals for Paramount’s merger with Skydace Media and reporters say the president is not close to backing down.