The Network Significantly Trims Trump's 60 Minutes Interview, Removing Boast About Network Compensating The President Substantial Money

This CBS News show the long-running news magazine significantly edited an interview featuring Donald Trump broadcast on Sunday evening, marking the initial one-on-one on the show since 2019.

Trump sat down with correspondent Norah O’Donnell for 90 minutes, yet merely approximately half an hour aired on television. A complete text version from the discussion subsequently released, alongside an extended digital cut of the conversation.

These cuts stand out since, exactly one year before the president's interview with O’Donnell at his Mar-a-Lago resort, he had sued CBS regarding post-production changes from another 60 Minutes interview featuring the vice president, claiming it had been manipulated to benefit her chances in the presidential election.

Although many legal experts widely dismissed the legal action calling it baseless and improbable to hold up on free speech grounds, CBS settled with Trump for millions this past summer. Under the agreement, the network committed that it would release transcripts from upcoming discussions with candidates.

During the opening of the broadcast, O’Donnell informed the audience that the parent company settled the legal dispute, adding that the resolution did not include an apology or expression of regret”.

During the interview, in one segment omitted from broadcast, the president teased CBS about the agreement restating his claims toward the broadcaster.

“In fact 60 Minutes paid me a substantial sum. And you don’t have to include this, since I do not wish to cause you discomfort, and I trust you’re not,” Trump said. “But the show was forced to pay me a large amount because they removed Harris’s response out which was damaging, it was decisive, 48 hours before the election. And they put a different response into the broadcast. And they paid me a lot of money because of it. You can’t have fake news. You’ve gotta have truthful journalism. And I think this is occurring.”

In a separate un-aired portion from the discussion, the president praised the sale of the network to new owners noting the broadcaster's new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, is a “excellent addition”.

The US president said he didn’t know Weiss, but told O’Donnell: “People say she’s a great person.

“In my view you have a talented director, frankly, who’s the young woman now heading your entire organization, is superb – based on what I've heard,” he remarked.

The president was particularly effusive in complimenting the executive and his parent, Larry Ellison, the new owner of CBS News’ parent company, Paramount Global, via their firm Skydance Media.

“In my opinion a very positive development recently involves this program and the change in ownership, the network under new management,” the president commented. “I believe it is a major improvement that has occurred for years to a free and open and good press.”

The correspondent offered no direct reply to the president’s comments about Weiss and the owners.

Included in the president's responses which were cut were multiple statements doubting the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, which he described “was rigged and stolen”.

At one point in the interview, in a part that was not aired, the president tried to get O’Donnell to admit that crime was down in the capital, where she lives.

“You reside in DC. You are aware of this,” the president remarked, inquiring of the correspondent: “Have you noticed any change?”

“I believe I’ve been working too hard,” O’Donnell responded. “I haven’t been outside often … I get in my car and go to work and return home.”

The president responded “that’s not a fair answer” maintaining that O’Donnell had observed an improvement.

The president then implied that the exchange didn’t need to be aired in the program.

“You don’t have to include that part,” he noted. “No concerns, it's fine, I don’t want to cause her embarrassment.”