Trump Clashes With O'Donnell in Rare 60 Minutes Showdown

President Trump returned to 60 Minutes for a rare interview Sunday night, marking his first sit-down with the CBS newsmagazine since 2020 and coinciding with the anniversary of his lawsuit against the network over the editing of Kamala Harris' interview on the show—a suit most experts dismissed as frivolous, though it infamously led to a $16 million settlement. The network aired about a third of Trump's 90-minute conversation with Norah O'Donnell, with the full transcript and extended video posted online, CNN reports. O'Donnell pressed Trump on a range of issues, from cost-of-living concerns and healthcare to foreign policy and immigration. Trump, aware his remarks would be edited much like Harris' were, occasionally joked about which responses producers should cut.

At times, he deflected blame to President Biden and Democrats, especially on topics like healthcare and the economy, while offering broad promises to address gas prices and insurance. O'Donnell challenged Trump on several points, including the limited impact of a strong stock market for average Americans. One viral moment came when Trump claimed immigration raids "haven't gone far enough." Another saw him say he didn't know Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, whom he recently pardoned. He also pushed his claim that China and Russia are secretly engaging in nuclear weapons testing, the Hill reports, to which O'Donnell replied, "That would be certainly very newsworthy." On the subject of the government shutdown, he offered no plan for ending it beyond continuing to force congressional votes on the matter.

The sit-down reignited debate over how journalists should handle Trump's frequent misstatements. Some liberal commentators criticized O'Donnell for not pushing back more aggressively, while others noted the interview was hardly a softball affair. Trump used part of the interview to praise CBS's new ownership under David Ellison and referenced Bari Weiss's appointment as editor-in-chief, suggesting the network might be fairer under their leadership. He also repeated misleading claims about his lawsuit settlement with CBS, asserting the network was "forced" to pay him, though CBS could have fought the case and the settlement included no admission of wrongdoing.