‘60 Minutes’ Abruptly Pulls Segment on Trump Deportees Sent to El Salvador Megaprison

“60 Minutes” abruptly filmed a segment on Sunday about the Trump administration’s deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to a megaprison in El Salvador; It’s a striking move that comes on the heels of President Donald Trump complaining that the CBS news magazine is “treating him much worse” under the new administration.

For days, CBS had been promoting Sunday’s episode of “Inside CECOT,” which promised to reveal “brutal and torturous conditions” at the El Salvador Counterterrorism Center. Reporter Sharyn Alfonsi interviewed the released deportees, according to a Friday press release. However, the episode was filmed on Sunday evening, about two hours before it was due to air.

“The 60 Minutes report on ‘Inside CECOT’ will air in a future broadcast,” CBS said in a statement to TheWrap. “We determined that additional reporting was needed.”

Alfonsi sent an angry internal memo to colleagues stating that pulling the episode “was a political decision, not an editorial decision.” The note was leaked immediately.

He wrote: “If the standard for publishing a story is ‘the government agrees to be interviewed,’ then the government effectively has control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.”

Alfonsi said the episode was reviewed and fact-checked by CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who watched on Friday, decided to keep the broadcast.

Weiss responded Sunday: “My job is to make sure all the stories we publish are the best they can be. Stories that aren’t ready happen every day in every newsroom, for whatever reason they lack adequate context or miss critical voices. I look forward to publishing this important article when it’s ready.”

But given the President’s recent comments on “60 Minutes” and his relationship with David Ellison, who now runs Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, the decision to film an episode that has been so heavily promoted and likely to hit hard on the Trump administration is sure to come under intense scrutiny.

Criticisms of Weiss exploded on social media Sunday night; Weiss declared that he had failed the standard of “seeking the truth and speaking it out” that he declared when ascending to the role of running CBS News.

“If this decision is not reversed, if CBS News will only run stories if the WH has comment, giving them veto power over journalism, every staff member with integrity will likely resign, because this is no longer a news division. This is TASS,” said veteran reporter Bill Carter, referring to the Soviet-era news agency.

But “60 Minutes” recently ran afoul of Trump once again. Earlier this month, after “60 Minutes” aired an interview with former ally turned critic Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump referenced consensus on targeting property.

Last week, Trump once again chimed in: “To those who think I’m close to the new owners of CBS, please understand that ’60 Minutes’ has treated me worse than ever since the so-called ‘takeover.’ If they’re friends, I hate to see my enemies.”

Trump sued CBS last year over “60 Minutes” editing an interview he conducted with then-2024 rival Kamala Harris. Network at startup dismissed He called Trump’s lawsuit “unfair” and vowed to “vigorously defend” himself. But CBS parent Paramount settled with Trump in July for $16 million as the company received FCC approval to merge with Ellison’s Skydance.

Since the merger, Ellison has named Free Press co-founder Weiss as editor-in-chief. Trump has was praised Weiss in the past and now CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Ellison, who is vying to take over Discovery. Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is a Trump supporter.

Embers came back He went on “60 Minutes” last month for his first interview since the deal. “I see good things happening in the news. I really do. And I think one of the best things that can happen is this show and the new ownership, CBS and the new ownership,” Trump said. “I think it’s the best thing that’s happened to a free, open and good press in a long time.”

Watch the teaser for the “60 Minutes” episode below:

Post ’60 Minutes’ Suddenly Pulls Segment About Deportees Trump Sent to El Salvador Mega-Jail appeared for the first time Winding.