CBS pulls 60 Minutes segment on Trump deportations to El Salvador prison
CBS News postponed a planned 60 Minutes report on the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador's CECOT prison, citing need for additional reporting.
December 21, 2025 - 09:16 PM ET • 2 min read
CBS News abruptly pulled a planned segment from 60 Minutes on Sunday evening, just hours before broadcast, that was set to examine the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.
The network announced the postponement at 4:31 p.m. ET, approximately two and a half hours before the segment was scheduled to air. "The broadcast lineup for tonight's edition of 60 Minutes has been updated. Our report 'Inside CECOT' will air in a future broadcast," CBS said in a statement. A CBS News spokesperson told Puck News that the segment "needed additional reporting."
The segment, titled "Inside CECOT," had been heavily promoted by CBS for days ahead of Sunday's broadcast. According to a Friday press release, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi had interviewed deportees who described "brutal and torturous conditions" they endured at the facility. The network's logline for the segment stated: "Earlier this year, the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, a country most had no ties to, claiming they were terrorists. This move sparked an ongoing legal battle, and nine months later the U.S. government still has not released the names of all those deported and placed in CECOT, one of El Salvador's harshest prisons."
In March, 238 men were deported to CECOT after the Trump administration accused them of ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. President Trump stated earlier this year that he was "very impressed" with the prison and that he would "love" to send American criminals there.
CECOT, officially named Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, is a maximum-security facility opened by El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in 2023 as part of his effort to arrest gang members. The prison has been described as one of El Salvador's harshest detention facilities.
The decision to pull the segment came amid broader tensions between Trump and CBS News. Trump has previously complained that the network has "treated him far worse" under new management, referring to recent leadership changes at CBS News.
The last-minute postponement drew immediate criticism from media observers on social media, with some directing scrutiny toward new CBS News boss Bari Weiss. The timing and reasoning behind the decision prompted questions about editorial independence and the network's coverage of the Trump administration.