Donald Trump’s love to present himself as the perfect President on television is a well-known fact. Trump loves the camera on him, and it is only natural that his administration also does its best to ensure that the President is always portrayed in a favorable light.
Keeping in line with the thought, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently threatened CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil and executive producer Kim Harvey over the former’s interview with Trump. She asked the duo to make sure the interview is released as a whole.
In the audio evidence, which was first obtained by The New York Times, Leavitt can be heard saying, “He said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape. Make sure the interview is out in full.’ … He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your a– off.”
Dokoupil also could be heard on the audio, saying, “Yeah, we’re doing it, yeah.” He also humorously added, “He always says that!” referring to Trump and his recurrent threats to the media.
Leavitt was reached out by The New York Times to comment on the audio and the demands made, to which she said, “The American people deserve to watch President Trump’s full interviews, unedited, no cuts.”
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The channel, however, aired the full interview, which they clarified was their intention all along and was not a result of the Trump administration’s threat. In a statement on Saturday, the company said, “The moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety.”
The interview with CBS focused on a huge range of topics including protests happening in Iran to the criminal investigation into Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chair.
The President also warned that the US “will take very strong action” if Iran hangs protesters. Moreover, a The Guardian reported, “He also called Jerome Powell a ‘lousy’ US Federal Reserve chairperson and defended the actions of the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis on 7 January.”
It is important to note here that Paramount Skydance now controls CBS and the network agreed to a $16m settlement with Trump in July for editing a 60 Minutes interview with Trump’s 2024 opposition, Kamala Harris.
The interview aired before the race and Trump had filed a lawsuit, claiming the segment was edited to “confuse, deceive, and mislead the public.”
CBS countered that the answers were edited only for time, a customary practice in television journalism, but nonetheless settled what many believed was an exceedingly “winnable case,” as The Guardian reported.
Wow this is an audio recording of Karoline Leavitt threatening to sue CBS News if they don’t air Trump’s Interview in Full! So they think they can just threaten and sue anyone for anything now! 🤬 pic.twitter.com/aXqWjpZfl8
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) January 18, 2026
Leavitt’s threats would have been shocking if this was happening under any other Presidency. However, under Trump’s governance there have been multiple instances of the administration suing and getting into fights with media houses that essentially do not align with their ideologies or date question them.
Trump has personally spoken against comedians and the networks that broadcast their shows if they showed courage enough to critique him. Therefore, it is only natural that his Press Secretary is openly threatening media personalities over featuring a full interview of the President without any cuts, even if they are required in regard to TV journalism.
