Donald Trump has drawn criticism from CBS viewers after bragging that Paramount paid him ‘a lot of money.’ In an unaired clip from his interview with 60 Minutes, the POTUS discussed a range of topics. Speaking with journalist Norah O’Donnell, the 79-year-old President talked about “seeing good things happening in the news.”
The interview, which was filmed on Halloween, is his first with the channel in more than five years. It also marks his first appearance since becoming embroiled in a legal dispute with CBS News earlier this year. Filmed at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, the interview lasted about 73 minutes. However, only 28 minutes made it to the final airing.
🚨🇺🇸 BREAKING: TRUMP REPORTEDLY IN TALKS FOR ’60 MINUTES’ INTERVIEW
Trump might be bringing ratings gold back to primetime.
Word is the White House is in talks with “60 Minutes” for a sit-down that could shake politics and television in one shot.
Last time around, CBS faced… https://t.co/ksHy6jScAY pic.twitter.com/M65lQEYNTS
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 2, 2025
According to the Irish Star, there was one moment that didn’t make it, and it was where Donald Trump praised the new owners of CBS-parent Paramount. In addition, he also applauded Bari Weiss, the “great new leader” who is taking charge of the news division.
“I see good things happening in the news. I really do,” said the POTUS. He continued, “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.”
During the 60 Minutes interview, the Republican president discussed his legal dispute with CBS. Earlier this year, he sued the channel for the way Kamala Harris’s October 2024 interview was edited. Ultimately, the dispute reached a settlement for $16 million. Since then, a lot of changes have been made, including the appointment of Bari, who is the founder of the center-right opinion site Free Press.
“I don’t know her, but I hear she’s a great person,” said Trump, praising the new editor-in-chief of the news division. Then he went on to boast about receiving “a lot of money” from Paramount.
Donald Trump is big mad at 60 Minutes, Paramount, and CBS News again.
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) May 7, 2025
“But 60 Minutes was forced to pay me a lot of money because they took her answer out that was so bad, it was election-changing, two nights before the election. And they put a new answer in. And they paid me a lot of money for that. You can’t have fake news. You’ve gotta have legit news,” said Donald Trump.
However, his comments did not make it to the final cut, and social media users did not seem happy about it. “If I were CBS, I probably wouldn’t want to talk about settling a lawsuit with the guy for lying about him, either,” wrote one user. Another added, “60 Minutes did not air the part where Trump discusses his success in extorting the network and calls them Fake News. This edit is harmful to me, and I’m considering suing.”
