Trump tapes ‘60 Minutes’ interview after GOP midterm rout
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump will appear on Sunday’s “60 Minutes” for his first in-depth interview since the Republican Party’s sweeping midterm losses.
The interview with the CBS newsmagazine, the highest-rated news program on American TV, was taped on Friday morning.
The interviewer was Ross Douthat, the former New York Times columnist who recently joined “60 Minutes” as a correspondent. Douthat, a conservative who has frequently been critical of Trump, previously interviewed Vice President JD Vance for his Times podcast.
In a column earlier this week, Douthat depicted the midterms as a failure of “the New Right.”
CBS released a photo of Douthat and Trump speaking in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon. The network said Douthat asked Trump “about the midterms, the new Congress and his remaining years in office,” as well as the war in Iran and the economy.
Douthat was accompanied at the White House by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton.
Trump has a long and complex history with “60 Minutes.” He last appeared on the program in April, in the immediate aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. That interview, with Norah O’Donnell, became contentious; Trump called ‘Donnell a “disgrace” and said, “You’re horrible people.”
Trump certainly cares a lot about “60 Minutes,” as evinced by the occasional critiques he posts on Truth Social. He is also well aware that the program is highly rated. Last Sunday’s episode averaged 10 million viewers, buoyed by an NFL game lead-in.
Trump refused to sit down for a traditional pre-election interview on “60 Minutes” in 2024. But his opponent Kamala Harris did, and Trump then sued CBS over the interview, claiming it was deceptively edited. Legal experts said the suit was frivolous, but the owners of CBS at the time decided to pay Trump to make the matter go away. They agreed to a $16 million settlement, sparking outrage across the news industry.
The lawsuit and settlement roiled the tight-knit “60 Minutes” team. And it was just the start; once the Ellison family took control of CBS last year, Bari Weiss took over CBS News and turned her attention to “60 Minutes,” upsetting its fiercely independent culture.
Last spring Weiss forced out the newsmagazine’s top producers and several correspondents and installed tech journalist and filmmaker Nick Bilton as executive producer. Weiss and Bilton hired a raft of new correspondents and contributors, including Douthat, who interviewed the Senate candidates in Michigan on last weekend’s broadcast.
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