White House Threatens to Sue CBS if Trump Interview Wasn’t Aired in Full

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Tony Dokoupil and an executive producer of CBS Evening News that the president would “sue your ass off” if his recent interview with the anchor was not aired in full, according to The New York Times. McKinley Franklin reported for The Hollywood Reporter.

CBS News said they were always planning to air Dokoupil’s full interview with President Trump. (Photo: Epicgenius Wikimedia Commons) 

After the interview was taped, Leavitt relayed a message from Trump to Dokoupil and CBS Evening News executive producer Kim Harvey.

“He said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,’” Leavitt said, per a recording obtained by the Times.

“Yeah, we’re doing it, yeah,” Dokoupil responded, to which Leavitt added, “He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’” Dokoupil, “in a light tone,” said, “He always says that!”

The Times noted that Leavitt “did not laugh” at his reply.

In a statement, CBS News said they were always planning to air Dokoupil’s full interview with President Trump. “The moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety,” the network said.

Trump notably sued CBS — a case settled by parent company Paramount Global in a $16 million payout — over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.