In a fiery “60 Minutes” interview aired on Sunday, President Trump launched a sharp critique of the Democrats concerning the ongoing government shutdown. He defended his decision to resume nuclear weapons testing in the U.S. and justified the ICE raids conducted by his administration. This marked his first interview with CBS News since taking legal action against the network’s parent company.

The interview began with a charged atmosphere as Norah O’Donnell, the anchor, sat down with Trump at his opulent Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. She immediately questioned the president about his handling of the government shutdown, which had reached 33 days, making it the second-longest in U.S. history.

“You have been involved in previous government shutdowns,” O’Donnell stated, leading to a tense exchange as both attempted to speak over each other.

In response, Trump retorted, “I refuse to be blackmailed by the Democrats who seem to have lost direction. There’s something fundamentally wrong with them.”

Once he had the opportunity to speak uninterrupted, Trump placed the responsibility on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, labeling him a “basket case.”

“He’s gonna be defeated in the next election by a vast number of people. And he has nothing to lose. He’s become a kamikaze pilot,” Trump railed.

Trump later doubled down on his intention to restart testing the US’ nuclear weaponry, which he boasted could “blow up the world 150 times.”

“Why do we need to test our nuclear weapons?” O’Donnell snapped.

To which Trump replied: “We’re the only country that doesn’t test, and I don’t wanna be the only country that doesn’t test.”

The president also claimed that China and Russia are actively testing their nuclear weapons.

Trump explained that, if there were a ranking, the US would have the best nuclear weapons, with Russia shortly behind and China in third. O’Donnell noted that it “would be certainly very newsworthy” if there was any confirmation that China was testing its nuclear weapons.

The commander in chief defended his administration’s ICE raids and argued  “they haven’t gone far enough” when O’Donnell cited concerns from critics.

The interview also waded into New York City’s mayor’s race, with Trump slamming “communist” frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.

Trump floated withholding government funds if the frontrunning democratic socialist emerges on
top.

“And it’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York. Because if you have a Communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” Trump said.