Key takeaways from Trump’s 60 Minutes interview

US President Donald Trump has appeared connected the CBS News programme 60 Minutes conscionable months aft helium won a $16m colony from the broadcaster for alleged “deceptive editing”.

In the interrogation with CBS big Norah O’Donnell, which was filmed past Friday astatine his Mar-a-Lago residence and aired connected Sunday, Trump touched connected respective topics, including the ongoing authorities shutdown, his administration’s unprecedented crackdowns connected undocumented migrants, the US’s determination to restart atomic testing, and the commercialized warfare with China.

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Trump, who regularly appears connected Fox News, a right-wing media outlet, has an uneasy narration with CBS, which is considered centrist.

In October 2020, the president walked retired of a 60 Minutes interrogation successful the lead-up to the 2020 predetermination helium lost, claiming that the host, Lesley Stahl, was “biased”.

Here are immoderate cardinal takeaways from the interview:

The interrogation took spot 1 twelvemonth to the time aft Trump sued CBS

The president’s lawyers sued CBS proprietor Paramount successful October 2024 for “mental anguish” implicit a pre-election interrogation with rival campaigner Kamala Harris that Trump claimed had been deceptively edited to favour Democrats and frankincense affected his campaign.

CBS had aired 2 antithetic versions of an reply Harris gave to a question connected Israel’s warfare connected Gaza, posed by big Bill Whitaker. One mentation aired connected 60 Minutes portion the different appeared connected the programme Face the Nation.

Asked whether Israel’s premier minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, listened to US advice, Harris answered: “We are not going to halt pursuing what is indispensable for the United States – to beryllium wide astir wherever we basal connected the request for this warfare to end.”

In an alternate edit, featured successful earlier pre-broadcast promotions, Harris had fixed a longer, much rambling effect that did not dependable arsenic concise.

The web argued the reply was edited otherwise for the 2 shows owed to clip restrictions, but Trump’s squad claimed CBS “distorted” its broadcasts and “helped” Harris, thereby affecting his campaign. Trump asked for an archetypal $10bn successful damages earlier upping it to $20bn successful February 2025.

Paramount, successful July 2025, chose to settee with Trump’s squad to the tune of $16m successful the signifier of a donation to a planned Trump statesmanlike library. That determination angered writer unions and rights groups, which argued it acceptable a atrocious precedent for property freedom.

Paramount executives said the institution would not apologise for the editing of its programmes, but had decided to settee to enactment the substance to rest.

The institution was astatine the clip trying to unafraid national support from Trump’s authorities for a projected merger with Skydance, owned by Trump state Larry Ellison. The Federal Communications Commission has since approved the merger that gives Ellison’s Skydance controlling rights.

On October 19, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff, US peculiar envoy to the Middle East, were interviewed connected 60 Minutes regarding the Israel-Gaza war.

President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shingle hands earlier their gathering astatine Gimhae International Airport successful Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025 [Mark Schiefelbein/AP]

He solved rare-earth metals contented with China

After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping successful South Korea past Thursday, Trump praised his counterpart arsenic a “strong man, a precise almighty leader” and said their narration was connected an adjacent keel contempt the commercialized war. However, helium blamed China for “ripping off” the US done its dominance of important uncommon world materials.

Trump told 60 Minutes helium had chopped a favourable commercialized statement with China and that “we got – nary rare-earth threat. That’s gone, wholly gone”, referring to Chinese export restrictions connected captious rare-earth metals needed to manufacture a wide scope of items including defence equipment, smartphones and electrical vehicles.

However, Beijing really lone said it would hold introducing export controls for 5 rare-earth metals it announced successful October, and did not notation restrictions connected a further seven it announced successful April this year. Those restrictions stay successful place.

Xi ‘knows what volition happen’ if China attacks Taiwan

Trump said President Xi did not accidental thing astir whether Beijing planned to onslaught autonomous Taiwan.

However, helium referred to past assurances from Xi, saying: “He [Xi] has openly said, and his radical person openly said astatine meetings, ‘We would ne'er bash thing portion President Trump is president’, due to the fact that they cognize the consequences.”

Asked whether helium would bid US forces to enactment if China moved militarily connected Taiwan, Trump demurred, saying: “You’ll find retired if it happens, and helium understands the reply to that … I can’t springiness distant my secrets. The different broadside knows.”

There are mounting fears successful the US that China could onslaught Taiwan. Washington’s stance of “strategic ambiguity” has ever kept observers speculating astir whether the US would support Taiwan against Beijing. Ahead of the past elections, Trump said Taiwan should “pay” for protection.

He doesn’t cognize who the crypto brag helium pardoned is

When asked wherefore helium pardoned cryptocurrency multibillionaire and Binance laminitis Changpeng Zhao past month, Trump said: “I don’t cognize who helium is.”

The president said helium had ne'er met Zhao, but had been told helium was the unfortunate of a “witch hunt” by the medication of erstwhile US President Joe Biden.

Zhao pleaded blameworthy to enabling wealth laundering successful transportation with kid enactment maltreatment and “terrorism” connected his crypto level successful 2023. He served 4 months successful situation until September 2024, and stepped down arsenic main enforcement of Binance.

Binance has been linked to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency institution World Liberty Financial, and galore person questioned if the lawsuit is simply a struggle of interest.

In March 2025, World Liberty Financial launched its ain dollar-pegged cryptocoin, USD1, connected Binance’s blockchain and the institution promoted it to its 275 cardinal users. The coin was besides supported by an concern money successful the United Arab Emirates, MGX Fund Management Limited, which utilized $2bn worthy of the World Liberty stablecoin to bargain a involvement successful Binance.

This portion of the interrogation appeared successful a afloat transcript of the 90-minute interview, but does not look successful either the 28-minute televised mentation oregon the 73-minute extended online video version. CBS said successful a enactment connected the YouTube mentation that it was “condensed for clarity”.

Other countries ‘are investigating atomic weapons’

Trump justified past week’s determination by his authorities to resume atomic testing for the archetypal clip successful 33 years, saying that different countries – too North Korea – are already doing it.

“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t speech astir it,” Trump said, besides mentioning Pakistan. “You know, we’re an unfastened society. We’re different. We speech astir it. We person to speech astir it, due to the fact that different you radical are gonna study – they don’t person reporters that gonna beryllium penning astir it. We do.”

Russia, China, and Pakistan person not openly conducted tests successful caller years. Analyst Georgia Cole of UK deliberation vessel Chatham House told Al Jazeera that “there is nary indication” the 3 countries person resumed testing.

He’s not disquieted astir Hamas disarming

The president claimed the US-negotiated ceasefire and bid program betwixt Israel and Hamas was “very solid” contempt Israeli strikes killing 236 Gazans since the ceasefire went into effect. It is besides unclear whether oregon erstwhile the Palestinian equipped group, Hamas, has agreed it volition disarm.

However, Trump said helium was not disquieted astir Hamas disarming arsenic the US would unit the equipped radical to bash so. “Hamas could beryllium taken retired instantly if they don’t behave,” helium said.

Venezuela’s Maduro’s ‘days are numbered’

Trump denied the US was going to warfare with Venezuela contempt a US subject build-up disconnected the country’s seashore and deadly aerial strikes targeting alleged drug-trafficking ships successful the country’s waters. The United Nations has said the strikes are a usurpation of planetary law.

Responding to a question astir whether the strikes were truly astir unseating Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, Trump said they weren’t. However, erstwhile asked if Maduro’s days successful bureau were numbered, the president answered: “I would say, yeah.”

A closed motion is displayed extracurricular the National Gallery of Art astir a week into a partial authorities shutdown successful Washington, DC, the US, October 7, 2025 [Annabelle Gordon/Reuters]

US authorities shutdown is each the Democrats’ fault

Trump, a subordinate of the Republican Party, blamed Democrats for what is present adjacent to the longest authorities shutdown successful US history, which has been ongoing since October 1.

Senators from the Democratic Party person refused to o.k. a caller fund unless it extends expiring taxation credits that marque wellness security cheaper for millions of Americans and unless Trump reverses healthcare cuts made successful his tax-and-spending bill, passed earlier this year.

The US president made it wide that helium would not negociate with Democrats, and did not springiness wide plans for ending the shutdown affecting 1.4 cardinal governent employees.

US volition go ‘third-world nation’ if tariffs disallowed

Referring to a US Supreme Court proceeding brought by businesses arguing that the Trump government’s tariff warfare connected different countries is amerciable and has caused home inflation, Trump said the US “would spell to hell” and beryllium a “third satellite nation” if the tribunal ordered tariffs to beryllium removed.

He said the tariffs are indispensable for “national security” and that they person accrued respect from different countries for the US.

ICE raids ‘don’t spell acold enough’

Trump defended his government’s unprecedented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and surveillance connected radical perceived to beryllium undocumented migrants.

When asked if the raids had gone excessively far, helium responded: “No. I deliberation they haven’t gone acold capable due to the fact that we’ve been held backmost by the judges, by the wide judges that were enactment successful by [former US Presidents Joe] Biden and [Barack] Obama.”

Zohran Mamdani is simply a ‘communist’

Regarding the New York City mayoral contention scheduled for November 4, Trump said helium would not backmost antiauthoritarian socialist Zohran Mamdani, and called him a “communist”. He said if Mamdani wins, it volition beryllium hard for him to “give a batch of wealth to New York”.