Steve Kroft – A longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent says President Donald Trump drove what he described as an escalating shakeup at CBS’ flagship news program, after CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss announced major personnel changes this week.
The staff departures started as behind-the-scenes turbulence. Now Steve Kroft, a former “60 Minutes” correspondent who spent decades with the show, says he believes the forces behind them were never subtle.
This week. CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss announced that “60 Minutes” executive producer Tanya Simon would be replaced by tech journalist and filmmaker Nick Bilton. At the same time. executive producer Draggan Mihailovich and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi were also removed from the program.
Speaking to Status in an interview published Friday, Kroft acknowledged he had questioned the show’s direction in recent years. But he said he couldn’t have predicted the extent of the turmoil he now sees taking shape.
“Since I retired, I often wondered what would happen to ‘60 Minutes,’” said Kroft, who concluded his run at the program in 2019 after 30 seasons. “But I never expected it would be executed by the president of the United States.”
“There is no smoking gun,” Kroft continued. “But [Trump’s] fingerprints and DNA are all over this. He’s been making threats against ‘60 Minutes’ and how he wanted it gone. And he finally got his wish.”
HuffPost reached out to representatives for CBS News and “60 Minutes” for comment on Kroft’s remarks, but did not immediately hear back.
Kroft’s comments arrive as CBS News’ leadership changes at the network have drawn scrutiny. Weiss, who has no prior broadcast experience, was brought in by CBS as editor-in-chief in October. CBS News’ parent company, Paramount, also acquired The Free Press—founded by Weiss in 2021—for a reported $150 million.
In Kroft’s view, the current upheaval is tied to politics rather than internal newsroom decisions. His assessment rests on a broader record of friction between Trump and the program—along with the personnel moves now unfolding on-camera and in staff rosters.
CBS’ shift under Weiss has also been framed by critics as moving toward more Trump-friendly coverage. In July. Paramount agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle a lawsuit he brought against the company over a “60 Minutes” episode he argued. without evidence. had been edited to flatter then–Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.
Weiss’ public record before joining CBS has fed the debate over what her leadership would mean for editorial direction. Prior to her CBS tenure. she publicly railed against diversity. equity and inclusion efforts. claimed the Me Too movement had gone too far. and conducted a friendly interview with former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel—a longtime Trump supporter—on her podcast.
The dispute over editorial choices has also played out directly on “60 Minutes.” In December. Weiss pulled a “60 Minutes” episode about a prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration had been sending Venezuelan migrants by claiming that it wasn’t “ready” just hours before it was set to air. Alfonsi, who reported the piece, argued Weiss’ decision was “political,” and not “editorial.” The episode would eventually air in January.
There has also been tension around how Weiss responds to “60 Minutes” traditions and personalities. Weiss was reportedly angered by Anderson Cooper’s emotional farewell from “60 Minutes” earlier this month. particularly after Cooper—a 20-year veteran of the program—advocated for its “independence” in his remarks.
Taken together. the personnel changes Kroft is reacting to—Simon being replaced by Bilton. and the removal of Mihailovich. Vega. and Alfonsi—land in the same atmosphere of political pressure that has followed “60 Minutes” for years. Kroft, for his part, says the show’s turmoil is not a mystery to him anymore. To him. the timing is the point. and the fingerprints are unmistakable: he believes the president’s pressure finally got the outcome he wanted.
60 Minutes CBS News Bari Weiss Tanya Simon Nick Bilton Draggan Mihailovich Cecilia Vega Sharyn Alfonsi Steve Kroft Donald Trump Paramount Anderson Cooper Kamala Harris El Salvador prison Venezuelan migrants
So Trump “executed” changes?? That sounds like clickbait, like did he personally fire people or what.
I don’t even watch 60 Minutes but I swear every week it’s like someone’s leaving. If they replaced the exec producers then yeah that’s a shakeup.
Wait, Kroft said no smoking gun but then says fingerprints and DNA?? That’s literally a smoking gun metaphor lol. Also Bari Weiss has no broadcast experience so of course it’s gonna be chaos.
This is wild. I saw someone say Trump was mad at 60 Minutes for years and then CBS just folds immediately. Like maybe the employees knew it was coming? Idk, but it feels like politics is ruining real journalism.