Media and Press Freedom

CBS News says it decided from the outset to air anchor Tony Dokoupil’s 13‑minute interview with President Donald Trump in full, after the White House warned it would sue if any of the footage was cut. According to unaired tape described by The New York Times, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Dokoupil at a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan that Trump’s message was, "Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape," adding, "If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off." CBS told the Times it had already independently chosen to run the interview unedited, while Leavitt said the American people "deserve" full, uncut Trump interviews and noted that CBS did air it in full. The standoff comes after Trump sued CBS in 2024 over an edited "60 Minutes" Kamala Harris interview—a case experts said lacked merit—that ended with parent company Paramount quietly paying Trump $16 million while seeking regulatory approval for a Skydance deal. Together, the threat and prior settlement raise fresh questions about whether the White House is using litigation and corporate leverage to influence how major outlets edit presidential interviews.