What Trump said in the part of his ‘60 Minutes’ interview that didn’t air

On Monday, a day after CBS News and “60 Minutes” aired its interview with President Donald Trump, there was still plenty of buzz about Trump’s first sitdown with the show in five years.

The last time he talked to “60 Minutes” was in 2020, when he walked out of his interview with Lesley Stahl. Last Friday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell for about 73 minutes. Approximately 27 minutes of that interview aired on Sunday night’s “60 Minutes,” while the entire interview was posted online, along with a transcript.

Trump didn’t walk away this time, although he threatened to at one point. Still, there was plenty of news, and lots to talk about — including parts that weren’t aired on the broadcast.

In Monday’s newsletter, I gave O’Donnell a decent review for the near-impossible task of sitting down with a president who often lies, misleads, ignores questions, tries to intimidate and talks over his host. O’Donnell hit most of the pertinent topics of the moment, most notably the government shutdown, the economy, immigration raids and Venezuela, among other international affairs. She pushed back when she could, and followed up when Trump did not directly answer some questions.

Not everyone agreed with my assessment. Several Poynter Report readers voiced displeasure with my positive assessment of O’Donnell’s performance, including one who questioned why O’Donnell didn’t ask Trump about Jeffrey Epstein.

In his analysis, CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote, “Liberal commentators criticized O’Donnell for not interjecting and correcting Trump more often — reprising a decade-old debate within media industry circles about how to interview Trump.”

One such liberal commentator was former MSNBC host Joy Reid, who posted on social media, “Norah let Trump lie and lie with barely any pushback or provision of corrective facts.” That was just one of multiple critical posts by Reid.

During an appearance on “CNN News Central” on Monday, former ABC News reporter Terry Moran said, “It was an interview without a lot of pushback. It was an interview that let him carry on.”

“But,” Stelter wrote, “it was not exactly a cushy interview. And O’Donnell’s questions generated lots of news.”

As I mentioned on Monday, if there were concerns that new leadership at CBS News, including editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, would place a heavy hand on the interview, those concerns were unfounded.

It is interesting, however, that Weiss did come up in the part of the extended interview that was not aired on “60 Minutes.” It was Trump who brought her up.

Trump said, “You don’t have to put this on, because I don’t want to embarrass you, and I’m sure you’re not — you have a great — I think you have a great, new leader, frankly, who’s the young woman that’s leading your whole enterprise is a great — from what I know. I don’t know her, but I hear she’s a great person.”

Trump also had kind things to say about David Ellison, whose Skydance recently acquired Paramount, and how that will be a good thing for CBS News.

Trump said, “I see good things happening in the news. I really do. And I think one of the best things to happen is this show and new ownership, CBS and new ownership. I think it’s the greatest thing that’s happened in a long time to a free and open and good press.”

In the extended interview portion, Trump also dunked on Paramount and CBS News for settling the lawsuit with him earlier this year. Trump had sued CBS News after claiming a “60 Minutes” interview last year with then-Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was edited in such a way to help her win the election.

Trump told O’Donnell that the press had gotten behind Harris, adding, “Oh, they were so behind her. But eventually she failed because she couldn’t speak. She wasn’t a very intelligent person, in my opinion. But she couldn’t speak properly. She could not speak. And actually, ‘60 Minutes’ paid me a lotta money. … But ‘60 Minutes’ was forced to pay me — a lot of money because they took her answer out that was so bad, it was election-changing, two nights before the election. And they put a new answer in. And they paid me a lot of money for that. You can’t have fake news.”

For more, check out Mediaite’s David Gilmour with “5 Wildest Moments You Didn’t See During Trump’s 60 Minutes Interview.”

Here’s The Associated Press’ David Bauder with “Anatomy of a news story: ’60 Minutes’ invites audience into the editing process with Trump interview.”

And from Poynter’s PolitiFact, here’s “Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ interview: Fact-checking his statements on nuclear weapons, Mamdani, ICE.”

And, finally, here is CNN’s Daniel Dale with “Fact check: 18 false claims Trump made on ‘60 Minutes.’”

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER

Reach the right audience with Poynter.

Connect your message to thousands of media professionals and people who value good journalism by advertising on poynter.org or in Poynter’s suite of newsletters, including The Poynter Report with Tom Jones.

Find out more or place a request here.

Election Day

Today is Election Day in some parts of the country. There are off-year races in places such as New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City, which will vote on a new mayor.

Some see today as a possible barometer on how voters might be feeling about Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress.

USA Today’s Zac Anderson has “7 big questions hang over US politics heading into Election Day 2025.”

Meanwhile, the most interesting race is for New York City mayor between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

During his “60 Minutes” interview, Trump called Mamdani a “communist,” which is not true. As Poynter’s PolitiFact wrote, “Mamdani describes himself as a democratic socialist, which in the U.S. generally refers to someone who believes in a political system with generous social insurance programs such as heavily subsidized child care and high tax rates to pay for education and health care.”

Trump said that between Mamdani and Cuomo, he would prefer Cuomo, saying, “I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or another, but if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m going to pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.”

After Trump’s comments on “60 Minutes,” Mamdani mocked Cuomo on social media, writing, “Congratulations, Andrew Cuomo. I know how hard you worked for this.”

Then, Monday evening, Trump fully endorsed Cuomo on Truth Social, saying, “If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!”

He later added, “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”

The New York Times reported, “In response to the president’s comment about cutting federal funding, Mr. Mamdani suggested that he would pursue legal avenues. ‘I will address that threat for what it is: It is a threat,’ he said.”

Jon Stewart’s new deal

Jon Stewart isn’t going anywhere.

Despite rumors and speculation about whether he would continue his role as executive producer and once-a-week host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” it appears that he will be around for at least another year.

Paramount, the parent company of Comedy Central, announced Monday that Stewart’s contract has been extended through the end of 2026. As The Los Angeles Times’ Meg James noted, “Stewart’s contract was re-upped nearly four months after Paramount-owned sister network CBS notified Stephen Colbert, who rose to fame on ‘The Daily Show,’ that it was dumping his late night show at the end of the season. The cancellation was revealed days after Colbert lambasted a $16 million settlement Paramount agreed to pay President Trump to end a lawsuit over edits to ‘60 Minutes.’ Colbert called the arrangement ‘a big fat bribe.’”

Stewart will remain the show’s executive producer and will keep hosting Monday nights. The other days of the week will continue to be hosted by a rotation of the show’s correspondents.

In a statement, Comedy Central boss Ari Pearce said, “Jon Stewart continues to elevate the genre he created. His return is an ongoing commitment to the incisive comedy and sharp commentary that define The Daily Show. We’re proud to support Jon and the extraordinary news team.”

Ch-ch-changes

Teen Vogue is undergoing some changes, and it’s not clear whether this is good or bad news. At first glance, it appears disconcerting for those who have liked the direction Teen Vogue has taken in recent years.

First, the news: Condé Nast announced Teen Vogue is actually joining Vogue.com. The announcement says, “The title will remain a distinct editorial property, with its own identity and mission.” However, the announcement also said that Versha Sharma is stepping down as editor-in-chief.

As The Cut’s Danya Issawi explained, “During that time (from 2017), and continuing under Sharma’s direction, the outlet had shifted its focus toward discussing politics and human rights head on, laying a strong stake in the media landscape as a reliable place for young people to seek out sociopolitical coverage. From interviewing Zohran Mamdani on the campaign trail to catching up with Greta Thunberg fresh out of her detention in an Israeli prison to breaking down the lessons that Black Lives Matter taught protestors, Teen Vogue has been considered a platform for young progressives inside the glossy confines of Condé Nast. The company’s announcement makes no explicit mention of the future of the outlet’s political coverage.”

However, Lex McMenamin, politics editor at Teen Vogue, posted on social media on Monday, “I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day. certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.”

The Hollywood Reporter’s Katie Kilkenny reported Monday evening, “In a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, Condé United and parent union The NewsGuild of New York said they ‘strongly condemn Condé Nast’s consolidation plans for Teen Vogue.’ The labor groups claim the move was ‘clearly designed to blunt the award-winning magazine’s insightful journalism at a time when it is needed the most.’”

Kilkenny later added, “The newsroom union claims the change is throttling staff diversity and muting the magazine’s progressive political bent.”

The organizations said, “Teen Vogue now has no writers or editors explicitly covering politics.” And they added, “As of today, only one woman of color remains on the editorial staff at Teen Vogue.”

Chloe Malle, Vogue’s head of editorial content, will now oversee Teen Vogue. In a statement, Malle said, “I remember when Teen Vogue launched, I read every page on the bus home from cross-country practice. I loved it then and I love and respect it now and am committed to continuing and supporting its point of view and sensibility.”

Malle added, “We are looking forward to this new chapter. In our increasingly fragmented media landscape, making all Vogue — Teen Vogue and Vogue Business — accessible in one place sets us up for growth.”

Monster TV numbers

Saturday night’s Game 7 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays will go down as one of the greatest World Series games of all time. It’s also officially the most-watched World Series game in eight years.

An average of 25.98 million viewers tuned in on Fox to watch the Dodgers' dramatic come-from-behind, 11-inning, 5-4 victory. That’s the most since 28.2 million viewers watched Game 7 of the 2017 World Series between the Dodgers and Houston Astros.

Now these are just the initial Nielsen fast national reporting numbers. The final official TV numbers will come out today, and that 25.98 million number is likely to increase slightly.

And, mind you, we’re talking about just the numbers in the United States. The viewership is even more impressive when you consider that one of the teams was Canadian.

The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch wrote, “The numbers in Canada should also be massive. Sportsnet, the Canadian MLB rights holder, said Game 5 of the World Series averaged 7.2 million viewers. The data for the final games will be in this week. Keep in mind: The entire population of Canada is 41 million.”

Media tidbits

• The Associated Press’ David Bauder with “East Wing ballroom donations by corporate owners create awkward moments for news outlets.”
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin with “‘Good Morning America’ at 50: Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan on What Makes the ABC Show Tick.”
• The Washington Post’s Mark Berman and Scott Clement with “Poll finds most Americans doubt Trump’s commitment to free speech, fair justice.”
• From last week, The Washington Post’s Brianna Tucker with “N.C. GOP spokesman urges reporter to drop news story, citing Trump ties.”
• And here’s the ProPublica story that the Post was referring to: Doug Bock Clark with “God’s Chief Justice.”
• Mediaite’s Joe DePaolo has a Q&A with the NBC News chief data analyst: “NBC’s Steve Kornacki On His First Election Night Without MSNBC in More Than a Decade.”
• The Wall Street Journal’s Berber Jin with “OpenAI, Amazon Sign $38 Billion Cloud Deal.”
• The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand with “In ESPN and YouTube TV standoff, the fans are the biggest loser.”

Hot type

• The Boston Globe’s Dana Gerber with “She was lonely and depressed. Her ‘beautiful little AI family’ changed everything.”
• The Washington Post’s Roman Stubbs with “A young chess star’s death, cheating accusations and a sport in turmoil.”

More resources for journalists

• Experienced managers: Develop the must-have skills journalists need to lead media organizations of the future. Apply now.
• Join 650+ women leaders transformed by this leadership program since 2015. Apply today.
• Get the critical skills new managers need to help forge successful paths to leadership in journalism, media and technology. Apply now.
• Gain the skills to spot AI risks like bias, misinformation and hallucinations before they harm your work. Enroll now.
• Journalists: It’s time to take care of yourself, too. Enroll now in a free session on embodiment practices to rest and regroup.
• Stop wasting hours on repetitive tasks — automate them instead. Learn how.
• Interested in learning more about funding local news? Start here.
• Watch both webinars in full to deepen your coverage of women in criminal justice and become eligible to apply for one of five $10,000 reporting grants — Nov. 7 is your last chance to apply. Enroll now.
• Access a list of mental health reporting resources on funding, source-building and more.
• Amp up your editing skills, improve your work life and advance your career with Poynter’s ACES Certificates.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

The Poynter Report is your daily dive into the world of media, packed with the latest news and insights. Get it delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday by signing up here. And don’t forget to tune into our biweekly podcast for even more.