A preview of President Trump’s interview with 60 Minutes to be aired tonight has been dropped, showing how CBS’s Norah O’Donnell presses Trump on China and Taiwan.“One potential flashpoint with China — and probably the potential flash point with China in the coming years — is over the issue of Taiwan,” O’Donnell said. “The Chinese military is encroaching on Taiwan’s sea lanes, its airspace, its cyberspace. I know you have said that Xi Jinping wouldn’t dare move militarily on Taiwan while you’re in office. But what if he does? Would you order US Forces to defend Taiwan?”“You’ll find out if it happens,” Trump replied. “And he understands the answer to that. This never even came up yesterday as a subject. He never brought it up. People were a little surprised that he never brought it up because he understands it. And he understands it very well.”“Do you mind if I ask, when you say he understands, why not communicate that publicly to the rest of us?” O’Donnell replied. “What does he understand? What does he understand?”“I can’t give away my secrets,” Trump said. “I don’t want to be one of these guys that tells you exactly what’s going to happen if something happens. The other side knows, but I’m not somebody that tells everything because you’re asking me a question, but they understand what’s gonna happen. And he has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, we would never do anything while President Trump is president because they know the consequences.”Trump met Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. “My G2 meeting with President Xi of China was a great one for both of our countries. This meeting will lead to everlasting peace and success. God bless both China and the USA!” Trump posted on Truth Social.After the meeting, Trump said that Washington has reached a landmark one-year trade pact with China, slashing US tariffs on Chinese imports from 57 per cent to 47 per cent.This is Trump’s first interview with 60 Minutes in five years, and his first since he sued and then settled with CBS parent company Paramount over a 2024 interview with then Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The settlement did not include an apology.
