President Donald Trump defended his administration’s immigration enforcement tactics in a new 60 Minutes interview, saying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “hasn’t gone far enough” in its efforts. The Sunday night broadcast marks Trump’s first appearance on CBS since suing the network last year.
In the interview, conducted by anchor Norah O’Donnell at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday before his lavish Halloween party, the president dismissed criticism of his aggressive immigration policies and blamed what he called “liberal judges” for limiting his authority.
“No, I think they haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back — by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama,” Trump said.
O’Donnell pressed him on the controversy surrounding recent deportation operations, citing viral footage of ICE agents tackling a young mother, deploying tear gas in a Chicago neighborhood, and breaking car windows.
“You’re okay with those tactics?” she asked.
“Yeah, because you have to get the people out,” Trump replied. Watch below:
Trump’s immigration crackdown has sparked a series of legal challenges, including a ruling in Illinois, where a Biden-appointed federal judge blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to assist ICE in Chicago.
The interview also veered into politics, with Trump aiming New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, calling the progressive lawmaker a “communist” and “far worse than a socialist.”
When O’Donnell noted that some have described Mamdani as a left-wing mirror image of Trump — “charismatic, breaking the old rules” — the former president responded with a smirk: “Well, I think I’m a much better-looking person than him, right?”
The high-profile interview follows Trump’s $16 million settlement with CBS’s parent company, Paramount, earlier this year. The former president had sued over a 2024 60 Minutes segment featuring then–Vice President Kamala Harris, alleging the footage was edited to favor his opponent during the campaign.
The government has entered its 32nd day of shutdown.
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