Trump Says “60 Minutes” Paid Him “a Lotta Money” — Claim Cut from Broadcast but Found in Full Transcript

US President Donald Trump claimed that CBS’s 60 Minutes “paid [him] a lotta money” during his latest interview a remark that was edited out of the main TV broadcast but appears in the official transcript and online “Overtime” version of the segment.

The interview, conducted by Norah O’Donnell at Mar-a-Lago, aired Sunday night. In the unaired portion, Trump brought up a $16 million settlement his team reportedly received earlier this year from Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News.

“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,”

Trump told O’Donnell a line omitted from the televised version but visible in the online transcript.

Background on the settlement

According to Trump, the settlement stemmed from an October 2024 60 Minutes interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris, who was his Democratic opponent in the presidential race.

Trump alleged that the network had deceptively edited Harris’s responses to make her appear “more articulate and concise,” and that his legal team sued over the “manipulated footage.”

“And they put a new answer in. And they paid me a lot of money for that,”

Trump said in the unaired clip. “You can’t have fake news. You’ve gotta have legit news.”

Paramount’s merger controversy

Paramount Global reportedly settled the lawsuit this summer, while awaiting regulatory approval for its merger with Skydance Media, the studio led by David Ellison, a known Trump supporter. The merger was approved just weeks later — a timeline that drew scrutiny in Washington.

CBS and Paramount have declined public comment on the alleged settlement.

Editing controversy

The decision to remove Trump’s comments from the main 60 Minutes broadcast has sparked debate online, with supporters accusing the network of “hiding the truth,” while media insiders note that edits for tone or pacing are standard practice in high-profile interviews.

Trump’s full remarks remain available on CBS’s website in the Overtime segment and in the official interview transcript.