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The White House is in discussions with CBS about President Donald Trump sitting for an unedited interview on “60 Minutes,” Semafor reported Thursday.
Talks about the interview began last weekend, when Trump was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly and the Ryder Cup golf event, according to the outlet. CBS had reportedly started preparations for correspondent Bill Whitaker to conduct the interview, but scheduling conflicts prevented it.
The discussions come nearly two months after Skydance completed its $8 billion merger with Paramount, making it the parent company of CBS.
Whitaker, a veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent, conducted the October 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that became the focus of a legal battle with President Trump, who was then the Republican presidential nominee. He accused the network of deceptive editing and filed a $10 billion lawsuit, later raising the claim to $20 billion before the parties settled for $16 million in July.
“I am so honored to be suing 60 Minutes, CBS Fake News, and Paramount, over their fraudulent, beyond recognition, reporting,” he wrote on TruthSocial at the time. “They did everything possible to illegally elect Kamala, including completely and corruptly changing major answers to Interview questions, but it just didn’t work for them.”
“Over the past months, it has also become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it,” Bill Owens wrote in a memo in April, sharing his departure as the producer of “60 Minutes.” “So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward.”
The settlement funds were directed toward Trump’s future presidential library.
Separately, The New York Post reported Thursday that journalist Bari Weiss will become editor in chief at CBS News as part of broader changes under Paramount Skydance. Weiss, a former New York Times opinion editor and founder of The Free Press, will report directly to chief executive David Ellison, bypassing CBS News President Tom Cibrowski.