WATCH: Trump Pressed On His Relationship With China’s Xi in Preview of High-Stakes ’60 Minutes’ Showdown

The first preview is out of Sunday night’s blockbuster 60 Minutes showdown — and it shows President Donald Trump being pressed by CBS’s Norah O’Donnell on China.

Face the Nation played a one-minute excerpt of the interview slated to air in full on Sunday night — in which O’Donnell quizzed Trump about his Thursday meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.

“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 U.S. Forces to defend Taiwan?”

“You’ll find out if it happens,” Trump replied, coyly. “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.”

O’Donnell pressed Trump on his response — albeit gently.

“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 shot back. “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.”

Sunday night’s interview is certain to be closely watched and scrutinized by media industry observers. It marks Trump’s first sitdown with CBS since his lawsuit against the network — over a 2024 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris — was settled for $16 million. While CBS received some criticism for editing the interview in a way that made a Harris comment seem more cogent than it actually was, most media observers agreed that Trump’s lawsuit was without merit. Still, CBS parent company Paramount settled the suit — with many critics believing a settlement was an effort to curry favor with the Trump administration ahead of a proposed merger with Skydance. Soon after the settlement, Trump’s FCC approved the deal.

The interview is thought by many to be a crucial signal about the direction of CBS News following the appointment of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief. Observers will be watching closely to see how hard O’Donnell goes after the president — with many left-leaning critics under the impression that CBS News is preparing to take a hard ideological right turn under the stewardship of Weiss.

Watch above, via CBS

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