’60 Minutes’ Draws 14 Million Viewers With Donald Trump Interview, Its Largest Audience In Almost Five Years

Donald Trump‘s sit down with Norah O’Donnell drew 14 million viewers to 60 Minutes on Sunday, giving the newsmagazine its highest audience in almost five years.

The heavily scrutinized interview was Trump’s first appearance on the show since 2020.

According to Nielsen data via CBS, the show drew 3 million viewers in the 25-54 demo, and the newsmagazine again was the top non-sports program of the week. The show also was up 71% in total viewers versus last year, and 133% in the 25-54 demo. The network said that it was the largets audience since Jan. 10, 2021.

The interview lasted about 90 minutes, but only 28 minutes were broadcast. CBS posted a complete transcript and an extended, 73-minute version of the interview online.

The editing struck many as ironic, given that Trump sued the network last year over the way that the show spliced an interview with his 2024 campaign rival, Kamala Harris. Even though CBS lawyers had called the lawsuit baseless, Paramount Global settled the litigation for $16 million as it sought Trump administration approval for its acquisition by Skydance.

Among the segments trimmed from the broadcast were portions where Trump talked of the Paramount settlement, and where O’Donnell continued to press him on whether his pardon of crypto tycoon Changpeng Zhao gave off the appearance of corruption. The newsmagazine did air a portion where Trump claimed not to know who the Binance billionaire is.