President Trump defended his administration’s ICE raids and argued “they haven’t gone far enough” in a “60 Minutes” interview that airs Sunday night — his first sit-down with CBS News since suing the network.
Trump swatted away criticism about his immigration crackdown and blamed “liberal judges” for getting in the way after CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell asked if he felt “some of these raids” have gone too far.
“No. I think they haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back . . . by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama,” Trump responded, according to a preview of the interview.
“Americans have been watching videos of ICE tackling a young mother, tear gas being used in a Chicago residential neighborhood, and the smashing of car windows,” O’Donnell said during the sit-down that was filmed Friday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“You’re okay with those tactics?” O’Donnell then asked.
“Yeah, because you have to get the people out,” Trump insisted.
The administration has faced a number of legal challenges in connection with its deportation tactics, including in Illinois, where a Biden-appointed federal judge blocked Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago.
In another preview of the high-profile sitdown, Trump again waded into the Big Apple mayor’s race and blasted “communist” front-runner Zohran Mamdani.
“He’s far worse than a socialist,” the president said.
O’Donnell then questioned Trump about apparent similarities between him and Mamdani.
“Some people have described him as a left-wing version of you … charismatic, breaking the old rules. What do you think about that?” she asked, according to the clip.
“Well, I think I’m a much better-looking person than him, right?” Trump joked.
The “60 Minutes” interview comes just weeks after Bari Weiss, a former opinion editor for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times who founded the Free Press, took the helm as editor-in-chief of the network.
Trump had sued CBS parent company Paramount over a 2024 “60 Minutes” segment featuring then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Back in July, Paramount paid Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit that alleged the Harris interview was deceptively edited to benefit his opponent during the 2024 campaign.
