Executive Summary
The Story So Far
Why This Matters
Who Thinks What?
President Donald Trump sat down for a 90-minute interview with CBS’s Norah O’Donnell for “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday evening, November 2, 2025. The extensive conversation, conducted at Mar-a-Lago, covered a range of topics including immigration, foreign policy, and economic challenges, drawing significant attention due to Trump’s past contentious relationship with the newsmagazine and a recent lawsuit settlement against CBS.
Interview Content and Dynamics
During the interview, Trump made several notable statements, including asserting that immigration raids in the U.S. “haven’t gone far enough.” He also claimed “I don’t know who he is” when questioned about Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, whom he had pardoned the previous month.
O’Donnell pressed Trump on various issues, including rising cost-of-living increases, suggesting people should blame President Joe Biden and making generic pledges for gas prices and healthcare. O’Donnell notably pushed back, reminding Trump he had been discussing healthcare reform since 2015.
The interview saw Trump making remarks about the editing process, at one point telling O’Donnell, “You don’t have to put this on, because I don’t wanna embarrass you.” CBS News ultimately aired approximately one-third of the interview on television, with most of the remaining footage and a complete transcript published online.
Media Scrutiny and CBS Settlement
The interview prompted criticism from some liberal commentators, including former MSNBC host Joy Reid, who argued O’Donnell did not sufficiently challenge Trump’s claims. This reignited a long-standing debate within media circles regarding the approach to interviewing Trump.
The “60 Minutes” appearance came exactly one year after Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS over its pre-election interview with then-Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The lawsuit, widely considered frivolous by legal experts, was settled when Paramount, CBS’s parent company, agreed to pay $16 million to Trump’s future presidential library.
This settlement was met with criticism from journalists and entertainers within CBS, with “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert likening it to a “big fat bribe” before his show was canceled, a decision the network attributed to financial reasons. Days after the settlement, the Trump administration approved Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media, leading to David Ellison taking control of CBS.
Trump has since praised the Ellisons, expressing hope that CBS would become “fairer” under the new ownership. He also lauded the hiring of Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief, though he did not name her directly, suggesting it was “the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press.”
Despite Trump’s claims that “60 Minutes” was “forced to pay me a lot of money” and his misstatement of the Harris interview’s timeline, CBS’s introduction to the broadcast disclosed the settlement, clarifying it did not include an apology or admission of wrongdoing.
Key Takeaways
Donald Trump’s latest “60 Minutes” interview underscores the ongoing complexities of his relationship with the media, marked by direct engagement, public criticism, and the recent settlement of a lawsuit against the network. The broadcast highlighted both the content of his policy stances and the persistent debate over journalistic approaches to interviewing prominent political figures.
