News · 8 November 2026
Trump on 60 Minutes: pilots saw a round object pass an F-22 at “three times their speed”; he hasn't heard of a secret program
interview · CBS News, 60 Minutes (Ross Douthat) · Original source
In his post-midterm 60 Minutes interview, aired 8 November 2026, President Trump retold the Air Force pilots' account he gave Newsmax in October (now "three times", not four, an F-22's speed), again without naming the pilots or giving a date or place. Asked about the whistleblowers' claim of a secret program hidden even from presidents, the core of the legacy-program allegation, he said he had not heard of one.
Facts and claims
- claimed Asked by Ross Douthat whether anything he had seen or been told suggests there is more to UFOs, Trump said: “I'm not too much of a believer”, but that he had met in the Oval Office with Air Force pilots, “the real deal”, who “told me things that are very strange”: flying an F-22, “something goes by them at three times their speed and it's round. It's not aerodynamic, it's round.” In his Newsmax interview of 15 October 2026 he had put the speed at four times an F-22's. — Donald Trump Source: cbsnews.com (archived)
- claimed Asked whether he had seen evidence of what self-described whistleblowers allege, “a secret program that even presidents don't know about to study this stuff”, Trump answered: “No. And I haven't heard that. But if there is I'm gonna find out about it right after this interview.” — Donald Trump Source: cbsnews.com (archived)
Key moments: Trump on UFOs, Air Force pilots and a secret program: 60 Minutes extended interview with Ross Douthat (8 November 2026)
- 38:12 Donald Trump: Asked whether anything he has seen, heard or been told points to "something more" than the released UFO footage, which Douthat calls "interesting but fuzzy", Trump says it is one of the questions he is asked most in private: "More people ask me about UFOs than…"
- 38:28 Donald Trump: "I'm not too much of a believer. But I sat in the Oval Office, first term and a little bit second term, meeting with Air Force pilots that are really good, solid people. These are not people that you would say are conspiracy theorists."
- 39:04 Donald Trump: "They've told me things that are very strange": flying an F-22, "something goes by them at three times their speed. And it's round. It's not aerodynamic. It's round." (On Newsmax in October he said four times.)
- 39:48 Donald Trump: Asked about whistleblowers who say there is "a secret program that even presidents don't know about to study this stuff": "No. And I haven't heard that. But if there is, I'm going to find out about it right after this interview."
- 39:55 Donald Trump: On the crowds of tourists at the "very, very common chain-link fence" in Nevada, "where they say it all happens": "I don't know if that's true. I don't think it's true."
- 40:26 Donald Trump: "I would like to find out whether or not it's true. … I will tell you, you have a lot of very solid people that believe it's true."
Connected files
People
- Donald Trump (features)
Programs
- Legacy program (about)
- PURSUE — Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (about)
Places
- Area 51 (mentions)
Videos
More news
- CBS Sunday Morning: Ryan Graves, now on the UAP Science Advisory Council, says the released files are “not satisfactory to me”
- Avi Loeb on Trump's F-22 account: the pilots are “well-trained” and “do not hallucinate”, but a round object faster than sound should leave a shock wave
- Burlison: his office is “still on the trail” of the alien footage Grusch described, after Grusch left his staff in September
- Avi Loeb wants sensors at the PURSUE sites where the triangle and the orbs were reported
- Loeb's council: more than 8% of PURSUE sensor videos may show birds
- Kirkpatrick answers Stratton: "There is no legacy program"