President Donald Trump turned a high-profile interview into a direct confrontation — blasting CBS News correspondent Norah O’Donnell for reading from a suspected gunman’s manifesto on national television.
The heated exchange unfolded during Trump’s “60 Minutes” sit-down Sunday night, just hours after reports surfaced that alleged shooter Cole Allen had written a 1,052-word manifesto targeting Trump administration officials.
Tensions spiked when O’Donnell quoted a line from the alleged document: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
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Trump didn’t hold back.
“Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people,” Trump fired back. “Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
O’Donnell pressed further.
“Do you think he was referring to you?” she asked.
Trump shot it down immediately.
“I’m not a pedophile,” he said emphatically. “You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all … stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.”
The president then flipped the script — pointing criticism back at political opponents.
“Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, [Jeffrey] Epstein or other things,” Trump added. “But I said to myself, ‘You know, I’ll do this interview and they’ll probably…’ I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”
O’Donnell attempted to clarify that she was quoting directly from the alleged manifesto.
Trump wasn’t buying it.
“You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace. But go ahead. Let’s finish the interview,” he said.
Moments later, as O’Donnell tried to pivot to another portion of the manifesto, Trump cut in again — doubling down.
“Disgraceful.”
Watch the clip above. More over at The New York Post:
Trump calls ’60 Minutes’ host ‘disgraceful’ for reading WHCD suspect Cole Allen’s alleged manifesto on air https://t.co/BQ4l3x8rXP pic.twitter.com/CMhhh4qntU
— New York Post (@nypost) April 27, 2026
