A closed-door dinner to “honor” President Donald Trump is stirring tensions inside CBS News.
The event was held at the U.S. Institute of Peace—rebranded as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace by the president himself—and hosted by Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, as his company seeks federal approval for a $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Trump addressed the room for almost an hour, according to The New York Times, speaking to an audience that included first lady Melania Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who will oversee the government’s review of the proposed merger.
But it’s the CBS guest list that has drawn the most scrutiny.
Bari Weiss, CBS News’ editor-in-chief, was seated at Trump’s table alongside her wife, journalist Nellie Bowles, according to the Times.
Former Evening News anchor and now-senior correspondent and 60 Minutes contributor Norah O’Donnell also attended, along with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski, chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford, and White House correspondents Nancy Cordes and Weijia Jiang, who is also president of the White House Correspondents’ Association.
The optics have rattled parts of the CBS newsroom, with several journalists telling the Times that hosting an event explicitly framed as “honoring the Trump White House” crossed a line.
It also compounds existing scrutiny over CBS News’ editorial direction since Weiss took over. The former opinion editor has been accused of steering coverage in a more Trump-friendly direction.
In December, a 60 Minutes report on Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison was yanked just hours before airtime, despite clearing editorial review.
Weiss defended that decision at the time, telling staff in a December call, “Our viewers come first. Not the listing schedule or anything else.”
Weeks later, another Trump-related investigation was still under extended review—fueling questions about how coverage is being handled.
Weiss has denied claims of political bias, insisting editorial decisions are made independently. But the timing of the dinner—and who was in the room—makes the optics harder to ignore.
Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would fold major media assets, including CNN and HBO, under Ellison’s control, dramatically reshaping the U.S. news landscape.
The deal has cleared shareholders but still faces scrutiny from the Justice Department—the same regulatory orbit represented at Thursday’s dinner.
The White House and CBS News did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s requests for comment.
