Paramount, the parent company of CBS, has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump over the contents of a “60 Minutes” interview with former vice president Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.The settlement resolves Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit, which alleged that CBS edited the interview to omit an embarrassing response from Harris. Trump initially sought $10 billion in damages before raising the demand to $20 billion.CBS defended the editing of the Harris interview as standard practice. Legal experts had widely criticised Trump’s lawsuit as baseless and unlikely to succeed due to constitutional protections for freedom of the press.Despite confidence in its legal position, Paramount opted for mediation amid efforts to finalise an $8 billion merger with entertainment company Skydance.The deal is subject to federal approval, and the settlement may have been part of a strategy to avoid political complications.According to a statement from Paramount published by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, the $16 million settlement will not go to Trump personally but will instead be used for his future presidential library.While Paramount did not apologise or admit wrongdoing, it agreed to release transcripts of “60 Minutes” interviews with future presidential candidates as part of the settlement.The lawsuit also had internal repercussions at CBS News. “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens resigned in April, followed by CBS News chief executive Wendy McMahon in May.