President Donald Trump is returning to “60 Minutes” this weekend, his first appearance on the show since he settled a lawsuit this summer with CBS News over the newsmagazine’s interview with Kamala Harris. Trump was interviewed by CBS’ Norah O’Donnell Friday at Mar-a-Lago for the appearance, which will air this Sunday.
The president has an uneasy history with television’s most popular newsmagazine. But he has signaled friendlier relations with CBS News after the takeover of its parent company this summer by new Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of wealthy supporter Larry Ellison.
CBS News offered few details Friday on how the interview came together, or whether there were any ground rules put in place. O’Donnell, the former “CBS Evening News” anchor, is not one of the show’s regular correspondents.
Trump walked out of a “60 Minutes” interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl shortly before the 2020 election, complaining of bias, and his team released an unedited transcript of the conversation.
Despite invitations, he did not agree to a “60 Minutes” interview during the 2024 election campaign. But he complained that the newsmagazine’s interview with Harris, his Democratic opponent, was edited deceptively in order to make her look good.
CBS News strongly denied any wrongdoing, but Trump filed a lawsuit against the company. Paramount decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle the case this summer, shortly before the Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount’s merger with Ellison’s Skydance Media.
In the wake of the Trump lawsuit, “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens resigned this past spring, saying that it was becoming clear that he could no longer run the program independently.
Since taking over at Paramount, Ellison has sent signals of a closer relationship with Trump. He hired Kenneth Weinstein, the former head of a conservative think tank and a donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign, to serve in a role investigating complaints that the network had shown bias in its reporting.
Paramount also purchased the Free Press website in October and named its founder, Bari Weiss, as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. Weiss reportedly had a role in booking the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and aide Steve Witkoff for a “60 Minutes” interview two weeks ago, talking about the peace deal in Gaza.
Flying back from the Middle East on Oct. 12, Trump told reporters that “Larry Ellison is great, and his son David is great. They’re friends of mine. They’re big supporters of mine, and they’ll do the right thing.”