“Donald Trump, the President of the United States, fiercely criticized the CBS news program ’60 Minutes’ on the 13th (local time) and argued that the network should be shut down. He claimed this was due to critical reporting on his foreign policies, such as the Ukraine war peace negotiations and the acquisition of Greenland, which belongs to Denmark.
President Trump expressed his discontent through his social media platform, Truth Social, stating, “’60 Minutes’ has mentioned the name ‘Trump’ in a derogatory and dishonorable manner almost every week, but this weekend’s broadcast was the worst.”
The parts President Trump took issue with included interviews with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and residents opposed to the annexation of Greenland.
In the interview with ’60 Minutes,’ President Zelensky appealed to President Trump, saying, “I hope you come to Ukraine to witness the situation firsthand,” and added, “You will find out who you dealt with and what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has done.” Zelensky made this appeal on the same day Russia launched missile attacks in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, causing numerous civilian casualties.
‘60 Minutes’ also reported criticisms from residents living in Greenland, which Trump eyed as U.S. territory.
In response, President Trump described ‘60 Minutes’ as no longer being a ‘news show’ but ‘dishonest political operatives disguised as news.’ Targeting CBS, he insisted, “They should be held accountable for what they’ve done and are doing,” and called for their license to be revoked.
He further stated, “Brendan Carr, Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), should impose the maximum fines and penalties for their illegal acts,” and added, “CBS is out of control and must pay a high price.”
President Trump has previously criticized ’60 Minutes’ in strong terms. During last year’s election, he accused the program of deceiving the public in an unprecedented manner regarding an interview with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, the former Vice President. Trump claimed, “Harris’s terrible answers were deleted, and much better responses from other parts of the interview were used as replacements,” and demanded the removal of ’60 Minutes’ fraudsters. CBS countered that the broadcast was not manipulated.”