CBS Cuts Trump’s Corruption Tantrum From ‘60 Minutes’ Edit: It’s Not ‘Newsworthy’

CBS 60 Minutes broadcast a 28-minute segment of its interview with President Donald Trump, and posted a 73-minute extended version online, but both omitted Trump’s irritated reaction to questions about pardoning Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao amid a $2 billion cryptocurrency deal involving the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial, as well as ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The full exchange, detailed in the transcript on the 60 Minutes Overtime site, captures Trump telling interviewer Norah O’Donnell, “I’d rather not have you ask the question,” before interrupting her and boasting about U.S. crypto leadership.

The White House RapidResponse47 X account promoted the extended cut as the “FULL” unedited interview, but it excluded the tense moment, Trump’s brag about a $16 million Paramount settlement over a Kamala Harris edit, and references to Epstein’s influence in crypto circles.

Critics, including Democrats, accuse CBS of softening Trump’s image, while MAGA allies claim bias, amid ongoing Epstein file scrutiny and Trump’s double standard with Bolsonaro’s unpunished 2020 subversion.

The Full Omitted Exchange on CZ Pardon

Conducted at Mar-a-Lago, the interview ended with O’Donnell requesting “two more questions.” Trump quipped, “That means they’ll treat me more fairly if I do… These might be the ones I didn’t want.”

She focused on Zhao, pardoned in September after a 2023 guilty plea to money-laundering, serving four months. O’Donnell asked about “pay-for-play” given World Liberty Financial’s $2 billion Binance deal, per The Wall Street Journal.

Trump said, “I don’t know who he is… I heard or it was a Biden witch hunt.”

When pressed on corruption appearances—especially Epstein’s rumored Binance investments via associates, per September 8 Oversight releases—Trump snapped, “I can’t say—I’m not concerned. I’d rather not have you ask the question. But I let you ask it… I coulda walked away. I’m proud to answer the question.”

He interrupted O’Donnell’s “And you answered—,” saying “Excuse me,” and pivoted: “We’re No. 1 in crypto… because I’m the president. We are No. 1 in crypto and that’s the only thing I care about. I don’t want China or anybody else to take it away.”

The aired version included Trump’s “I know nothing” but cut the blow-up and Epstein links, with O’Donnell’s voiceover noting denials of pardon involvement. Epstein’s 2019 death and Trump’s 2002 “terrific guy” quote resurfaced in the September 8 birthday letter, a sexually suggestive note with a nude sketch, denied by Trump in his $10 billion Journal lawsuit.

Paramount Settlement Brag and Harris Jab Cut

Trump bragged, “And actually 60 Minutes paid me a lotta money. And you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t wanna embarrass you.” He praised CBS’s “new leader” Bari Weiss, saying, “I think you have a great, new leader… from what I know. I don’t know her, but I hear she’s a great person.”

Referring to the July $16 million settlement (from a $20 billion suit) over Harris’s 2024 edit, he said, “60 Minutes was forced to pay me—a lot of money because they took her answer out that was so bad… And they paid me a lot of money for that. You can’t have fake news.” He jabbed Harris: “The press got behind her… But, eventually, she failed because she couldn’t speak. She wasn’t a very intelligent person, in my opinion.”

The settlement mandated future transcripts for candidates, no apology, aiding Paramount’s Skydance merger. These were cut from videos.

CBS and White House Responses

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X, “The full, unedited @60Minutes interview with President @realDonaldTrump is now available online—without the network’s edits and cuts,” linking the 73-minute version. RapidResponse47 echoed, “FULL Trump interview.” CBS’s editor’s note on YouTube said the extended cut was “condensed for clarity,” per The Daily Beast.

CBS defended the edits as standard, with a spokesperson telling Mediaite, “We present the most newsworthy portions of interviews.”

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Double Standard with Bolsonaro and Epstein

Critics highlight irony: Bolsonaro imprisoned 27 years for a 2022 coup plot on September 11, while Trump evades accountability for similar 2020 subversion and Epstein ties.

Jack Smith’s January 14, report said Trump would have been convicted on documents and January 6, dropped post-reelection. The pardon raises pay-for-play amid Epstein’s crypto links, per Oversight Democrats.