Former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran criticized CBS’s “60 Minutes” on November 3, 2025, for its recent interview with President Donald Trump, arguing the program did not adequately challenge the president’s authoritarian behavior and frequent inaccuracies.
Moran expressed his concerns on CNN’s “News Central,” where he questioned the timing and tone of the interview. The segment aired after CBS’s parent company, Paramount, settled a $16 million legal dispute with Trump on July 2, 2025. Unseen footage reportedly showed Trump boasting about the settlement amount, as noted by Moran.
Moran described the interview led by correspondent Norah O’Donnell as lacking sufficient scrutiny of the president’s claims. Having interviewed Trump himself in April, Moran acknowledged the challenges involved but stressed that journalists must remain committed to verifying facts.
In response to CNN’s Boris Sanchez about potential challenges he would have presented, Moran highlighted Trump’s frequent false statements as a complicating factor. He emphasized the journalist’s duty to respect the presidential office while insisting on truthfulness.
“You don’t have to get in a fight with him. You don’t — you shouldn’t, right? You should treat him with the respect that the office deserves and that the people elected him deserve. But at the same time, you have to stand up to something because if you condone his falsehoods, that empowers him,” Moran said. “Every authoritarian in the book does this, and you can look it up, and that’s what he’s doing. So, I do think at some point, you have to stand up for what is true, even at the risk of displeasing Trump or your bosses.”
Moran speculated on the influence of conservative journalist Bari Weiss, appointed as CBS News’ editor-in-chief by Paramount in October, on the interview approach, noting her generally favorable coverage of Trump.
Moran’s critique comes after his own professional challenges due to expressing criticism of the Trump administration. ABC News chose not to renew his contract in June after he labeled White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as a “world-class hater” in a social media post, also describing Trump in a similar light, though attributing the president’s hatred to self-promotion rather than spiritual motivation.
ABC News suspended Moran immediately after the post, citing a breach of its objectivity and impartiality standards, and announced shortly after that it would not extend his contract.
The post elicited critical responses from Trump administration members, including Vice President JD Vance, who described Moran’s comments as “dripping with hatred.” Miller referred to it as a “full public meltdown,” suggesting it revealed biases among journalists.
Following his departure from ABC News, where his career began in 1997, Moran started a SubStack newsletter and continued to defend his characterization of Miller, emphasizing the centrality of cruelty in Miller’s policy approach.
Moran’s tenure at ABC included co-anchoring “Nightline” from 2005 to 2013 and serving as chief foreign correspondent. He recently worked as an anchor for ABC News Live and a senior national correspondent, focusing on Supreme Court coverage.
The broader media landscape reflects ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and major media organizations. Trump has aggressively opposed critical media coverage, including the aforementioned lawsuit against CBS over a “60 Minutes” interview with his 2024 opponent, Kamala Harris, while ABC News and George Stephanopoulos settled a separate libel suit with Trump for $15 million.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung acknowledged Moran’s contract termination in June with a social media comment, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had earlier called for accountability regarding Moran’s remarks about Miller.
