🧾 Factchecking Trump on '60 Minutes'

Mehdi debunks the president's lies, unpacks the failure of our mainstream media, and has the latest from Gaza, as well as Trump's 'Great Gatsby'-esque Halloween party.

🗳️ On this day in 2020, Joe Biden and Donald Trump faced off in the presidential election. After nearly four painstaking days, Joe Biden was finally declared the winner. And Trump, to this day, continues to be a sore loser.

Good morning! Mehdi here. It’s Day 33 of the Trump government shutdown. Have you tried flying during a shutdown? I got back home late last night from Texas, where thousands of travelers joined ridiculously (I mean, ridiculously!) long security lines at the airport, which snaked out onto the street outside. “Sorry, shutdown,” shrugged airport employees to those of us trying to make our flights. This country needs… help.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ Donald Trump’s lie-infested interview on ‘60 Minutes,’ the threat of a US invasion of… sorry, what?… Nigeria, the Israeli military rape scandal, and a hell of a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago.

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‘60 Minutes’ of Shame and Submission

Screenshot of the ‘60 Minutes’ interview with Trump.

Folks, I watched Donald Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ interview so you wouldn’t have to.

Yes, on a Sunday night, after a delayed flight and long lines at the airport, I got home, sat down, and put myself through the excruciating task of watching all 73 minutes of CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell’s interview with the president, only 28 edited minutes of which were aired on television. (Given that Trump successfully sued CBS for editing their 2024 interview with Kamala Harris, does this mean the next Democratic presidential candidate can also sue CBS for editing this Trump interview? #justasking)

Having watched the whole ‘60 Minutes’ interview, and read the entire transcript too, I genuinely can’t decide what was worse: Trump’s endlessly dishonest answers or O’Donnell’s non-stop softball questions.

I kid you not, here is a short selection of some of the questions this award-winning, highly-paid, veteran news anchor chose to ask the most powerful man on Earth in her limited time with him:

• “Have some of these [ICE] raids gone too far?”

• “Who’s tougher to deal with, Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping?”

• “Why won’t Putin end this war?

• “Do you worry about an AI bubble?”

• “What do you hope to accomplish in the next three years?”

Ooooohh! Tough stuff! The new owner of CBS, David Ellison, and the new head of CBS News, Bari Weiss, must both be so proud. This is the kind of ‘balanced’ coverage I’m sure they were waiting for. Then again, to be fair to them, O’Donnell has a long history of softball interviewing that predates the recent takeover of her network by a MAGA billionaire. Remember her love-in with Saudi crown prince MBS in 2018?

But this isn’t just about O’Donnell or CBS. The ‘60 Minutes’ interview with Trump showcased everything that is wrong with US political interviews in general. The deferential tone. The lack of preparation. The failure to ask follow-up questions or dig deep into an interviewee’s answers. The inability (unwillingness?) to fact-check in real time.

At one point, Trump asked O’Donnell whether she knew “how many presidents have used the Insurrection Act,” to which the CBS anchor simply responded: “Tell me.” Trump then proceeded to lie about the proportion (“Almost 50% of ‘em,” he said, when the real proportion is 38%) and the absolute number (“some of the presidents, recent ones, have used it 28 times,” he said, when the most was actually only six times, and back in the 1870s).

But O’Donnell said nothing. She just moved on.

There were so many falsehoods and half-truths, and so little pushback, that after a while, I gave up. I stopped counting. Here’s what I did manage to catch, in terms of brazen lies, all of which were left unrebutted, uncorrected, unchallenged, by O’Donnell:

• “We had nine wars on our planet. I solved eight of ‘em.” I have debunked this nonsensical claim before.

• “We have no inflation.” Inflation is at 3%.

• “It’s at 2%. It’s-- it’s the perfect inflation.” Inflation is at 3%.

• “Right now [grocery prices are] going down.” Grocery prices are up 1.4% since Trump came to office.

• “A year ago, we were a dead country.” Not only did the US have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in both 2023 and 2024, but the Economist magazine called it “the envy of the world.”

• “11,888 murderers were let into our country.” Not only is this number inaccurate, but many of the non-citizens convicted of homicide either here or abroad came in during Trump’s first term.

• “Washington, DC, was… almost like a crime capital of the world.” In 2023, per PolitiFact, “at least 49 other cities in the world had higher homicide rates.

• “[Biden] hardly went anywhere. Guy couldn’t leave his bedroom.” Not only did Joe Biden visit roughly as many countries in his term of office as Trump did in his first term, but Biden was the first US president to visit an active warzone – Ukraine – not under the control of US forces.

• “I made Middle East peace. For 3,000 years, they couldn’t do it.” There is no peace in Palestine, no peace deal in place, and it isn’t a 3,000-year-old conflict.

• “Communist, not socialist. Communist. He’s far worse than a socialist.” Zohran Mamdani is not a communist.

• “I can’t give them $1.5 trillion so that they can give welfare to people that came into our country illegally.” The Trump/GOP claim that Democrats want to give free healthcare to undocumented immigrants has been repeatedly debunked.

• “They emptied their mental institutions and their insane asylums-- into the United States of America.” Asylum seekers don’t come from “insane asylums.” Obviously.

• “One thing I can tell you, the 2020 election was rigged.” It wasn’t. The courts agreed.

• “And a lotta people say when it’s rigged you’re allowed to do it again.” A lot of people don’t say this. The US Constitution doesn’t, for sure.

What CBS Should Have Asked

The uninterrupted, non-stop lies were not the only issue with this particular interview. One of my big problems with the anchors and reporters who interview Trump, whether it is in a sit-down form or huddled around him on Air Force One or in the Oval Office, is the insistence on asking Trump what I call ‘opinion’ questions. They ask a serial liar and a well-known ignoramus to simply opine on issues, as if he were a mere pundit. They ask him ‘yes or no’ questions, which he loves. Take, for example, this exchange on ‘60 Minutes’ last night:

O’Donnell: “Did you instruct the Department of Justice to go after [Letitia James and James Comey]?”

Trump: “No, and not in any way, shape or form.”

Why did she ask him if he instructed the DOJ to go after James and Comey, when we know for a fact he did because he publicly posted on Truth Social demanding Attorney General Pam Bondi go after them: “What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia???”? She should have asked, “How can you justify instructing the DOJ to go after them?” Or, “How is it right or proper to instruct the DOJ to go after them?” Or, “Wasn’t your note to Pam Bondi evidence that you are engaged in a campaign of retribution and vengeance against your political opponents?”

But such pointed, fact-based, ‘accountability’ questions were largely missing from this lengthy ‘60 Minutes’ interview with the president of the United States.

And Donald Trump was grateful. In fact, he seemed delighted with O’Donnell’s complaisant approach. How do I know this? Because, embarrassingly for the CBS host, he said so himself. During the interview.

“You’re a wonderful reporter, you’re very talented,” Trump, a well-known hater of mainstream journalists, told O’Donnell, before later adding: “I think you have a great, new leader, frankly, who’s the young woman that’s leading your whole enterprise… I hear she’s a great person.”

To be clear: the president of the United States appeared on ‘60 Minutes,’ part of CBS News, the same show and same outlet that he sued and which then paid out $16 million to him; the show treated him with deference and let him lie for over an hour; and he made sure to heap praise on the CBS News boss and the anchor doing the interview with him.

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🗞️ What You Need to Know

• More boat strikes: The US conducted another strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, killing all three individuals aboard. The strike marks the 15th known attack since September, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to continue to “hunt” and “kill” suspected narco-traffickers. UN experts have said the strikes amount to “extrajudicial killings.”

• Dems ahead in 2026 race: Democrats have secured the largest lead for either party in the fight for Congress since the 2018 midterms, according to NBC News’s latest polling. It’s no wonder why Republicans are in a frantic rat race to gerrymander their maps before the 2026 elections.

• Explosion at Harvard: Police are investigating an “intentional” explosion that occurred at a Harvard University medical building on Saturday morning. There were no reported injuries, and authorities are seeking two individuals who fled the building.

• SNAP fight continues: A federal judge ordered the US Department of Agriculture to move forward with providing SNAP benefits during the government shutdown – a day before funding was set to lapse. Emergency funds will be used to cover some benefits, which will be dispersed by Wednesday. However, the judge argued that the USDA should identify and use additional funds to provide full benefits.

• DeSantis’s Halloween debacle: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as well as a legion of online conservative pundits and influencers, falsely claimed that a group of Arizona teachers were “glorifying” Charlie Kirk’s murder, when in fact, the teachers were dressed in math-themed Halloween costumes – the very costumes they wore the year before. They just lie and they lie and they lie…

🧠 Pop Quiz!

Who was the last socialist mayor of New York?

Keep your eyes out for the answer below!

🇵🇸 Don’t Forget Gaza

• Israeli violations continue: The death toll from Israeli attacks since the so-called ceasefire in Gaza began has risen to at least 236 after Israel continued shelling and striking parts of the Strip.

• Rubble of genocide: Palestinians face the haunting task of digging through 61 million tonnes of debris for the remains of loved ones, which is 20 times more than the amount generated from all conflicts since 2008. Gaza officials estimate that at least 10,000 bodies are trapped underneath.

• The Israeli military’s top lawyer resigned after admitting she approved the leak of surveillance footage that showed soldiers raping a Palestinian prisoner. But the biggest news in Israel is not the horrific assault. It’s that she leaked the evidence.

• Lethal fate for Palestinian prisoners: The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society confirmed the death of Mohammed Hussein Ghawadra, a Palestinian man in Israeli custody. The organization estimates that he is the 81st Palestinian to die in Israeli prisons during the two-year genocide. Since 1967, at least 318 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention.

And in the occupied West Bank…

• An Israeli settler shot dead 35-year-old Ahmed Rabhi al-Atrash near Hebron, according to local Palestinian media. Israeli forces reportedly blocked medical teams from reaching the scene and took al-Atrash’s body.

• Israeli settlers found yet another target to terrorize: farm animals. A disturbing video shows masked men storming into a Palestinian-owned pen and beating lambs. Human rights activists warn that settlers are ramping up assaults on Palestinian flocks.

☕ What’s the Tea?

Trump talks with guests during a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Oct. 31, 2025, in Florida. Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Zeteo’s Swin Suebsaeng is back with the latest drama from inside our kakistocratic administration, and this time, it’s all about Trump’s wild Halloween Party:

Trump and the GOP elite can’t stop rubbing their collective decadence in Americans’ faces. On Friday night, with food benefits set to expire and health insurance premium increases about to go out, Trump marked the occasion by attending a Great Gatsby-style Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago club. Over the weekend, I reached out to various Trump advisers and officials asking if anyone wanted to defend the situation. One source close to Trump acknowledged it wasn’t a “good look.” A senior Trump appointee told me they were hunting online for any evidence of Democrats partying this weekend, to try to score points in return. When asked Sunday on CNN about Trump’s Gatsby party – and Barack Obama’s critical comments about it – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent didn’t sound like he was trying. “I believe President Obama played a record amount of golf of any president, so I’m not sure why he’s out there throwing stones,” Bessent said – banking on viewers to forget that Trump golfs all the time.

Perhaps Trump and his Cabinet allies have also forgotten that after the glitz and glamor of the Roaring ‘20s came… the Great Depression. It’s all just a little too on-the-nose.

💬 Quote Unquote

“I think I’m a much better-looking person than him.”

Donald Trump’s response on ‘60 Minutes’ last night when asked about Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy for mayor of New York.

🚨 Don’t Miss It!

The Michigan Senate Democratic primary is shaping up to be one of the biggest and closest election races of the 2026 cycle. It features establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens, state senator and viral star Mallory McMorrow, and the Bernie-backed public health official Abdul El-Sayed. I’ll be speaking to El-Sayed on set in DC today, for ‘Mehdi Unfiltered,’ so do look out for that on-camera, in-person, wide-ranging interview in your inboxes later tonight.

🌏 Anywhere But America

• 🇸🇩 Just a few thousand displaced Sudanese have reached the nearest camp to the western Dafur city of El Fasher, aid organizations say, raising concern that tens of thousands may still be trapped in the city that was captured by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group in a bloody takeover last week. “If people are still in El Fasher, it will be very difficult for them to survive,” Shashwat Saraf, Sudan director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, recently told AP.

• 🇬🇧 Ten people were injured in a stabbing attack on a London-bound train on Saturday. British authorities ruled out terrorism after arresting two men in connection with the attack. One of the men was later released after authorities determined he was not involved.

• 🇳🇬 Trump instructed the Department of Defense to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria over the alleged killing of Christians – an accusation that Nigeria denies. Trump said US troops could enter the country “‘guns-a-blazing’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists” that he believes are behind the attacks. Extremist groups like Boko Haram have targeted both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

• 🇵🇰🇦🇫 Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to maintain a ceasefire after more than a week of fighting at the border. Officials from both sides agreed to meet again in Istanbul on Nov. 6 to finalize the ceasefire agreement.

• 🇺🇦 At least nine people, including two children, were killed in Ukraine over the weekend following escalating attacks from Russia. The attacks also left thousands of residents without power as Russia targeted energy facilities.

📊 Poll of the Day

Guess what? According to the latest CBS News/YouGov polling, most Americans don’t like the idea of a masked secret police on their streets. It’s hugely unpopular.

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🧠 Trivia answer: David Dinkins, who served as New York mayor from 1990 to 1993, was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

📺 Sunday Show Roundup

• You know it’s bad when Fox is pushing back. Sunday host Shannon Bream pressed Speaker Mike Johnson on why he still hasn’t sworn in Adelita Grijalva, the Democratic representative-elect who won the Arizona seat in September. Johnson vowed to swear her in once the House is back in session. (I’ll believe it when I see it.)

• Think Republicans have no healthcare plan? Think again! On CNN’s ‘Inside Politics’ on Sunday, Rep. Jeff Van Drew shared the details: “The plan is to come up with something better.” Oh. Thank. You. Jeff.

• Back on Fox, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Democrats “crazed people” as she echoed Trump’s push for an end to the Senate filibuster, a move so extreme that even his own party is publicly rejecting it.

• On NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ California Governor Gavin Newsom sounded the alarm on Trump and pleaded with Americans to resist: “Wake up! What the hell do we need to tell people to get them off their couch?”

🗓️ Mark Your Calendars

• Monday: A federal judge is scheduled to hear Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s motion to dismiss his criminal case, which lawyers argue is a vindictive prosecution by the Trump administration.

• Tuesday: Election Day!

  • Key races to watch:

    • New York City (OBVIOUSLY!) and Minneapolis mayoral races

    • New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races

    • Maine Question 1

    • California Proposition 50

• Wednesday: The Supreme Court is set to hear Trump’s bid to preserve his sweeping tariff agenda after lower courts ruled that he overstepped his authority.

• Friday: Lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James are set to seek dismissal of her mortgage-related criminal case, arguing it is yet another “vindictive” prosecution by the Trump administration.

ICYMI From Zeteo

Zohran Mamdani Tells Zeteo New Yorkers Are Done With Andrew Cuomo’s ‘Bigotry’

A Week in the (Busy?) Life of JD Vance

Muslim Countries Have Also Been Complicit in Gaza Genocide, Says Prominent Islamic Scholar

Zeteo’s Melanie Riehl, Akshay Gokul, and Minnah Arshad contributed to this newsletter.

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