White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a blunt warning to a CBS News crew last week, making clear that President Donald Trump would take the network to court if it failed to air his latest interview in full and without edits.
According to Gateway Pundit, the confrontation followed a 13-minute sit-down between President Trump and CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil in Detroit, where the President was touring a Ford plant and addressing the Detroit Economic Club. During the exchange, President Trump needled the anchor over the stakes of the 2024 election, warning that a Kamala Harris victory would be disastrous not only for the country but for media jobs as well.
If she got in, you probably wouldnt have a job right now, Trump said, arguing that he had inherited a dead country and transformed it into the hottest country in the world. He pressed the point further, telling Dokoupil, You wouldnt have this job, you wouldnt have this job, certainly whatever the hell theyre paying you, before adding, We would be Venezuela on steroids.
After the cameras stopped rolling, Leavitt approached the CBS team with what she described as a direct instruction from the President. He said, Make sure you guys dont cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full, Leavitt told them, prompting Dokoupil to respond, Yeah, were doing it, yeah, according to a side conversation captured on tape and obtained by the New York Times.
Leavitt then sharpened the warning, adding, He said, If its not out in full, well sue your ass off, a remark some CBS staffers initially appeared to treat as a joke. Executive producer of CBS Evening News Kim Godwin replied, Oh, great, OK! while Dokoupil quipped, He always says that!
But Leavitt, the report noted, did not laugh, underscoring the seriousness with which the Trump team views media editing of his remarks. CBS later issued a statement insisting, The moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety.
Leavitt told the New York Times, The American people deserve to watch President Trumps full interviews, unedited, no cuts. And guess what? The interview ran in full.
The episode reflects a broader clash between President Trump and legacy media outlets that conservatives argue routinely distort or selectively edit his comments. Trump has sued several media organizations since taking office, including CBSs former parent company, Paramount, last year over its edited 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris; after that lawsuit was settled, Paramount was sold to David Ellisons Skydance, a reminder that legal and public pressure can carry real consequences for media giants that fail to treat their subjects fairly.
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