Donald Trump threatened to walk out of a 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday in a moment that was too hot for TV. The president sat down with CBS News for an exclusive interview with anchor Norah O’Donnell. This is Trump’s first interview with the network since his explosive lawsuit over CBS’ edited interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election. O’Donnell repeatedly prodded Trump over his decision to pardon cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao. The crypto mogul pleaded guilty to violating money laundering laws and was sentenced to four months in prison.
The CBS anchor pressed Trump about the pardon given his family’s growing involvement in the crypto industry. The president responded by threatening to walk out of the interview at one point; however, the fiery exchange was edited out of the interview. ‘Norah, I can only tell you this. My sons are into it,’ Trump told the anchor after being asked about his decision to pardon the mogul. ‘I’m glad they are, because it’s probably a great industry, crypto. I think it’s good. You know, they’re running a business, they’re not in government.’
O’Donnell responded, ‘So not concerned about the appearance of corruption with this?’ Trump then gave the CBS anchor a stern warning if she kept inquiring about the suspicious pardon. ‘I’d rather not have you ask the question,’ Trump fired back. ‘But I let you ask it. You just came to me and you said, ‘Can I ask another question?’ And I said, yeah. This is the question…I don’t mind. Did I let you do it? I coulda walked away. I didn’t have to answer this question. I’m proud to answer the question. You know why? We’ve taken crypto.’
Trump, initially, claimed he had no idea who Zhao was before launching into his angry tirade against O’Donnell. ‘Well, here’s the thing, I know nothing about it because I’m too busy,’ the president told the anchor. CBS aired the 28-minute version of the Trump interview on television, and later released the full 73-minute interview online. Trump’s meltdown on O’Donnell, however, did not make the final cut of either video, but was included in the release of the full interview transcript.
Trump’s 60 Minutes appearance was his first interview with the flagship CBS show since he sued the network in October 2024 over a ‘deceptively edited’ interview with Kamala Harris at the height of the campaign. The lawsuit was settled in July for $16 million, which Trump said the network paid as a result of the controversy. The president went on to justify his pardon of Zhao by claiming the ‘corrupt’ Biden-led Justice Department had over prosecuted the billionaire.
‘It’s a corrupt government. Biden was the most corrupt president and he was the worst president we’ve ever had. I only care about one thing,’ Trump added. ‘Will crypto be — will we be number one in crypto? Crypto has turned out, and in that sense I’ve been right.’ ‘Crypto’s turned out to be a massive industry, if you wanna call it that. And I’m very proud to say that we are far and away ahead of China and everybody else. Now, China is getting into it very big, right now. If you wanna go after people, you’re gonna kill that industry.’
