White House press secretary tells CBS ‘we’ll sue' if they don't air full Trump interview

Following a recently taped interview between President Donald Trump and CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News personnel that Trump expected the full conversation to be broadcast without cuts, and if it wasn’t, the network would be sued.

According to an audio recording obtained by The New York Times, the exchange occurred after Trump’s interview with the network in Michigan. 

“Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape," Leavitt said. "If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.” 

Dokoupil replied, saying, “Yeah, we’re doing it, yeah,” and someone else said, “Oh, great, okay.” 

CBS News has confirmed that the interview aired unedited Tuesday night, and the network maintained that broadcasting it in full was its independent decision.

Trump previously sued CBS News' parent company Paramount over an edited "60 Minutes" interview that was recorded prior to the 2024 presidential election. He settled with the company for about $16 million.

“The moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety,” a network spokesperson said.