Tony Dokoupil made his debut as CBS Evening News‘ permanent anchor on Saturday with an extended interview with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Great to be with you tonight, two days earlier than expected, with that major breaking news, news that could shape the year, maybe even the century,” Dokoupil said, as he introduce a half hour devoted to the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and its seizing of its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
The latter half of the program was devoted to a live interview with Hegseth, identified as the “Secretary of Defense,” even though the Trump administration has rebranded the Pentagon as the “Department of War.”
Dokoupil asked Hegseth about Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would be running Venezuela, and asked what that means.
“What does that look like? Does that mean we are going to see Americans on the corners of Venezuela? In the government of Venezuela? Are you prepared to have troops on the ground in Venezuela?”
Hegseth’s answer was not specific.
“It means that we set the terms. President Trump sets the terms, and ultimately he will decide what the iterations are of that.” He later said that Trump “takes nothing on the table, so what happens next will be in the hands of Venezuelans to decide, but ultimately America will benefit, security wise and with prosperity we believe the Venezuelan people can as well.”
Dokoupil also asked, “Is it about freedom, or is it about oil? At the press conference today, President Trump seemed to indicate that both were a factor.”
Hegseth replied, “Freedom, security, prosperity. Of course what was done by Venezuela against American oil interests and oil companies is well understood and never should have happened. And President Trump is willing to recapture that. But it is also the security of our hemisphere.”
Hegseth’s sit down was a rather rare one with a mainstream broadcast news outlet, as he has routinely criticized the press since becoming Defense Secretary, and initiated new restrictions that led to the exit of much of the regular Pentagon press corps from the complex.
Dokoupil invoked the U.S. invasion of Iraq 20 years ago, which bogged the U.S. down in the region for a decade. “Many of the president’s own supporters tonight are wondering, how is this, this time around, going to be different, and how is it in the U.S. interest?”
Hegseth claimed that it was “the exact opposite.” “We spent decades and decades, purchased in blood, and got nothing economically in return. President Trump flips the script. He says, first through strategic action we can ensure that we have access to additional wealth and resources … without having the spend American blood.
Dokoupil was to have first taken the chair on Monday, with a planned two-week tour of American cities before returning to CBS studios in New York.
But the U.S. action in Venezuela changed those plans. Dokoupol, who anchored from San Francisco on Saturday, will broadcast from New York on Monday and the tour will start later in the week, the network said.
