Trump Makes Multiple False Claims in ’60 Minutes’ Interview

President Donald Trump made at least 18 false claims during his recent interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” continuing a pattern of spreading misinformation on topics ranging from the economy to immigration. The interview, conducted by Norah O’Donnell and aired Sunday, lasted nearly 90 minutes, though only about 28 minutes were broadcast.

Throughout the interview, Trump repeated his baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite extensive evidence to the contrary. When confronted with economic facts by O’Donnell, Trump insisted that grocery prices “are down,” even as she informed him they have actually increased. Federal data confirms this reality – the Consumer Price Index for September showed that grocery prices had risen 0.3% since August, 2.7% since September 2023, and 1.4% since January 2024, when Trump returned to office.

Trump’s claims about inflation were similarly misleading. He declared “we have no inflation” and later claimed inflation is “down to 2%, even less than 2%.” The latest Consumer Price Index data shows inflation at 3% in September, up from 2.9% in August, and similar to the 3% rate when he took office in January.

On foreign investment, Trump dramatically inflated figures, claiming “$17 trillion is being invested in the United States right now” – a number almost double the White House’s own inflated estimate. According to the White House’s website, “major investment announcements” during Trump’s term total only $8.9 trillion. A CNN review found the administration has been counting vague investment pledges from foreign countries and companies, many of which don’t represent actual investment in the U.S.

The president made other demonstrably false claims about international trade, insisting that China and other countries pay the tariffs he has imposed on their exports. Economic studies, including one from the federal government’s bipartisan U.S. International Trade Commission, have consistently shown that U.S. importers, not foreign countries, make these payments to the U.S. government, with costs often passed on to American consumers.

Trump also falsely claimed each alleged drug boat entering the U.S. contains enough drugs to “kill 300,000 Americans,” a figure experts say plainly exaggerates the reality. He inaccurately stated he invoked presidential emergency powers “more than any president,” though no individual president has invoked such powers more than the six occasions attributed to President Ulysses S. Grant in the 1800s.

The interview contained additional falsehoods about Ukraine aid, immigration numbers, and CBS’s own journalism practices. Trump falsely claimed CBS aired an edited interview with Vice President Kamala Harris “two days” before the election, though it was actually more than four weeks prior. He also incorrectly stated former President Joe Biden gave $350 billion in aid to Ukraine, when the real figure is less than half that amount.

When discussing artificial intelligence, Trump correctly noted some AI companies are building their own power plants due to electricity needs, though he exaggerated the scale of this trend.

CBS posted a full transcript of the interview, which O’Donnell said ran for nearly 90 minutes, much longer than what viewers saw on television. The extended conversation covered additional topics including nuclear testing, government shutdowns, immigration, tariffs, and China.

Throughout the interview, Trump consistently presented misleading or completely false information, even when directly confronted with contradictory evidence. Fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked many of these claims in the past, yet they remain central to his campaign messaging as the election approaches.