Donald Trump’s recent interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes drew 7.8 million viewers, marking the second-lowest audience for a presidential appearance on the program since 2015.
The figure, derived from Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel metrics, represents a 44% decline compared to the president’s interview in November 2025 and a 26% drop from the program’s broadcast the previous week. Among the 25-54 age demographic, the broadcast drew 918,000 viewers.
The interview, which aired on Nov. 8, featured the president answering questions from new 60 Minutes correspondent Ross Douthat at the White House Roosevelt Room. During the session, Trump defended the war in Iran and stated he would not forgive his political rivals, while Douthat questioned the president on his personal wealth and the Republican party’s recent legislative losses.
While traditional television viewership for the episode was lower, the program saw high engagement on digital platforms. The interview clips accumulated 195 million views across the show’s social media accounts.
A CBS spokesperson stated to Axios that this social media performance represents the highest post-broadcast viewing record in the program’s history. Bari Weiss, the CBS News editor-in-chief, and Nick Bilton, the executive producer of 60 Minutes, have emphasized a strategic focus on growth outside of traditional television broadcasting.
In an October interview with Jessica Lessin of The Information, Weiss said that she is focused on “changing the business” rather than television ratings.
Unlike the November 2025 interview, which aired immediately following an NFL game and reached approximately 14 million viewers, the most recent broadcast did not have the benefit of a lead-in from a football game.
This trend aligns with broader performance data for the program; according to Nielsen Live+7 data, 60 Minutes has seen a 17% decline in total viewership during the first eight episodes of the current season compared to the same period last year. Only two episodes this season have outperformed their year-ago counterparts: the debut of Patrick Clancy’s first television interview and the first broadcast interview with Victor Wembanyama following the NBA Finals.
The shift in how audiences consume the program comes as CBS News undergoes leadership and personnel changes under Weiss, who was appointed following Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount. By comparison, the season premiere in September drew 7.94 million viewers, the lowest for a season start in the 21st century, while the November 1 episode reached 10.5 million viewers.
