White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly had a humorous warning for a CBS News journalist not to edit an interview with the president.
According to a New York Times account of the situation, Leavitt approached CBS News Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil following a 13-minute interview with President Donald Trump. The outlet claims that the brief encounter was not to exchange pleasantries, but a moment for Leavitt to jokingly warn Dokoupil about the potential consequences of editing the footage.
From the outlet:
“[Trump] said, ‘Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,” Ms. Leavitt said in an even tone, according to a recording of the exchange obtained by The New York Times.
“Yeah, we’re doing it, yeah,” Mr. Dokoupil responded.
Ms. Leavitt replied: “He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’”
Audio posted to X appears to confirm this version of events:
🚨 NEW AUDIO: Karoline Leavitt just threatened CBS News over Trump’s interview:
“Air it in full… or we’ll sue your ass off.”
The White House is now openly trying to bully the media into compliance.
This isn’t “transparency.” It’s intimidation. pic.twitter.com/8pMBBJzYhC
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) January 18, 2026
“Some of the CBS personnel who were there absorbed Ms. Leavitt’s remarks as being in jest, according to a person familiar with their thinking,” the outlet noted.
Indeed, that appears to have been the agreement from the very beginning, according to a statement from CBS News.
“The moment we booked this interview, we made the independent decision to air it unedited and in its entirety,” it said.
However, the threat itself carries very real weight, as Trump sued the outlet previously over a shockingly edited 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, which ended in parent company Paramount settling for $16 million. It is highly unlikely that the company would want to go through that again.
X users had mixed reactions to the moment:
Given the selective “editing” they have been caught doing, you don’t think this is a reasonable response?
— A Crude Awakening (@allengilmer) January 18, 2026
idk Brian, I kinda want to see his rambling dementia interview in full, it should be a hoot to mock him and debunk all his lies
— Aaron E Colyer (@ImAaronEColyer) January 18, 2026
Wow “intimidation” by demanding transparency wow
— comet (@cometcalls) January 18, 2026
CBS News is a failure. The bureau must be replaced.
— Greg Katz (@GregKatz02) January 18, 2026
This is literally the definition of transparency.
— Danny Able (@DK_Able) January 18, 2026
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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