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President Trump appeared on “60 Minutes” Sunday evening, one 12 months after suing the CBS present over the modifying of a Kamala Harris interview — and he was properly conscious that his solutions would equally be trimmed for time.
“You don’t have to use that one,” Trump remarked after a clumsy trade with interviewer Norah O’Donnell about crime in Washington, D.C.
“You don’t have to put this on, because I don’t wanna embarrass you,” Trump mentioned at one other level whereas praising the brand new homeowners of CBS.
The newsmagazine’s producers evidently agreed that these moments weren’t probably the most newsworthy. CBS News aired a few third of O’Donnell’s sit-down with Trump on TV, and posted most of the rest on YouTube. The community additionally revealed the whole transcript of the 90-minute interview on-line.
Both the TV broadcast and the transcript confirmed that O’Donnell sought to take advantage of her time with Trump, urgent him on cost-of-living will increase, overseas coverage challenges, the federal government shutdown and different matters.
O’Donnell requested pointed questions: “Are we going to war against Venezuela?” “When will you declare ‘mission accomplished’ on immigration?” “So you’re gonna send the military into American cities?”
During a few key moments, O’Donnell pushed again on Trump’s speaking factors, for instance, noting how “when the stock market is doing well, that doesn’t affect everybody.”
Liberal commentators criticized O’Donnell for not interjecting and correcting Trump extra typically — reprising a decade-old debate inside media business circles about the right way to interview Trump.
“Norah let Trump lie and lie with barely any pushback or provision of corrective facts,” former MSNBC host Joy Reid commented on Bluesky.
But it was not precisely a comfortable interview. And O’Donnell’s questions generated plenty of information. In one clip that ricocheted round social media, Trump mentioned immigration raids within the US “haven’t gone far enough.” In one other viral clip, Trump mentioned, “I don’t know who he is” when requested about Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, whom he pardoned last month.
Trump seemingly had little to say when O’Donnell introduced up “those that are suffering with cost-of-living increases and saying they’re living paycheck to paycheck.” He prompt folks ought to blame his predecessor, Joe Biden, and made generic pledges about decreasing the value of gasoline and fixing healthcare.
“But Mr. President, with all due respect, you’ve been talking about fixing the healthcare insurance plan since 2015,” O’Donnell mentioned at one level.
“Sure. And you can’t do it because of the Democrats,” Trump responded.
Praising David Ellison and Bari Weiss
Sit-down interviews with Trump have been few and much between throughout his second time period, so each query and each reply will get consideration.
And Sunday’s “60 Minutes” interview was much more noteworthy since Trump cares deeply concerning the newsmagazine however hadn’t mentioned sure to an interview since 2020.
Trump fielded O’Donnell’s questions on Friday, one 12 months to the day after he filed a frivolous lawsuit in opposition to “60 Minutes” over its pre-election interview with Harris.
The lawsuit — alongside with Trump’s public assaults and threats in opposition to CBS station licenses — shook the community and created a conundrum for guardian firm Paramount, which wanted the Trump administration’s approval for its then-pending merger with Skydance Media.
The Paramount board determined to strike a settlement deal, paying $16 million to Trump’s future presidential library to finish the litigation.
The settlement was extensively criticized, together with by journalists and entertainers at CBS. “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert likened it to a “big fat bribe.” (Colbert’s present was cancelled quickly thereafter, in what the network cast as a monetary, not political, resolution.)
Within days of the settlement being finalized final July, the Trump administration authorized Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media, clearing the way in which for Skydance boss David Ellison, son of the Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, to take management of CBS.
Trump has stored tabs on the Paramount possession change and has expressed hope that CBS can be “fairer” in consequence.
“Larry Ellison is great, and his son David is great. They’re friends of mine. They’re big supporters of mine,” Trump mentioned final month. “They will make the right decisions,” he added. “They’re going to revitalize CBS — hopefully, they’ll bring it back to its former glory.”
Trump additionally flattered the Ellisons through the “60 Minutes” taping, saying, “I see good things happening in the news. I really do. And I think one of the best things to happen is this show and new ownership, CBS and new ownership. I think it’s the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press.”
Trump particularly introduced up David Ellison’s latest hiring of Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief, albeit not by title.
“The young woman that’s leading your whole enterprise is a great — from what I know. I don’t know her, but I hear she’s a great person,” Trump mentioned after citing the Paramount settlement. (This is likely one of the components of the interview that Trump prompt may very well be trimmed.)
Trump falsely mentioned “60 Minutes” was “forced to pay me a lot of money,” when the truth is the settlement was a company calculation; CBS might have determined to battle the lawsuit in courtroom, and lots of authorized consultants believed the community would have gained.
Trump additionally misstated the timeline, claiming the Harris interview “was election-changing, two nights before the election,” when the truth is it aired one month earlier than election day.
CBS disclosed the settlement controversy in O’Donnell’s introduction to the interview broadcast on Sunday evening. She famous that “the settlement did not include an apology or admission of wrongdoing.”