White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned CBS News that President Trump would sue the network if his recent interview was not aired in full, according to an audio recording obtained by The New York Times.
The remark came moments after Trump finished taping a 13-minute interview Tuesday with “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil in Michigan.
Leavitt approached the CBS team and relayed that the president wanted assurances the segment would run unedited, adding he would “sue your ass off” if it did not, according to The Times.
“He said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,’” Leavitt told Dokoupil and his colleagues, according to the recording.
“Yeah, we’re doing it, yeah,” Dokoupil replied.
Leavitt added: “He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’”
CBS News later told the Times the network had already decided to air the interview in full before it was taped, and that Leavitt’s comments did not alter its editorial plans.
“The moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety,” the network said in a statement, noting the full interview ran as planned on the “CBS Evening News” that night.
In 2024, Trump sued the network over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing CBS of deceptive editing.
Paramount, CBS News’ corporate parent at the time, ultimately agreed to a $16 million settlement to resolve the lawsuit, a decision that drew sharp criticism inside and outside the newsroom and has since loomed over editorial decisions involving Trump.
