Donald Trump has told anchor Tony Dokoupil that he owes his job to him in his first interview with the president as the host of CBS Evening News.
At a Ford factory in Detroit, Dokoupil questioned Trump on the economy, saying that inflation is “overall, not bad.” Trump then interjected, saying that inflation is “overall, very good.”
Inflation held steady in December at 2.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, but grocery prices remained high.
“I’ve only been here for 11 months,” Trump continued. “The first few months were really rough…because I inherited a mess.”
Trump then said Dokoupil “wouldn’t have a job right now” if his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, won the 2024 presidential election.
Later on in the interview, Dokoupil said, “For the record, I do think I’d have this job even if the other guys won.” Trump then replied, “Yeah, but a lesser salary.”
Dokoupil made his debut as the new host of CBS Evening News with a special bulletin on Saturday, January 3, following the U.S. operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro.
During his first regular broadcast that following Monday, the host ran into some technical issues. There was more than 20 seconds of confusion and silence while he waited to figure out what his next segment would be about.
Dokoupil co-hosted CBS Mornings for years before he was tapped for the evening program under the leadership of recently appointed CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, known for founding the anti-woke publication The Free Press.
One network staffer told The Independent that Dokoupil has turned CBS Evening News into “state TV.”
Multiple sources said that during a commercial break of his January 3 interview with Dokoupil, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was only sitting down with “mainstream press” because Weiss requested it.
“Anyone with half a brain will know that if CBS gets a high-profile Trump administration interview that nobody else has, it’s because CBS has sold out its soul, values and ethics,” a CBS News source said. “This isn’t journalism. It’s state TV.”
