Catching up with Bill O'Reilly: Ex-Fox News Channel star is bestselling author, flourishing on YouTube, radio, web

While gone from Fox News eight years, amid multiple accusations of sexual harassment, Bill O'Reilly has hardly gone missing. In fact, to anyone paying attention — notably a fan base that includes the president of the United States — he's been everywhere. There's the YouTube show ("No Spin News"), the radio program ("The O'Reilly Update," on 300 stations, including WABC/770), and billoreilly.com, his expansive all-Bill-all-the-time website.

And of course, there are the books, which fill a veritable shelf — a total of 34, including the bestselling "Killing" series he co-wrote with Martin Dugard.

Following 2024's "Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Biden to Washington," his most recent is "Confronting Evil: Assessing the Worst of the Worst" (co-written with Josh Hammer) (St. Martin's Press, $32), which profiles various malefactors of history like Genghis Khan, Josef Stalin and Adolph Hitler. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also on the list. And yes, it's another bestseller.

In a wide-ranging discussion with O'Reilly, 76, at his home on the North Shore, he spoke of a recent trip to Beijing where he met with the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party as part of an unofficial fact-finding initiative. He said he also occasionally advises President Donald Trump. He's got an idea for a new book (but offered no details). Most of all, O'Reilly has no plans to slow down. This Levittown native remains very much as you remember him from those decades as cable news' top-rated host — feisty, opinionated, plainspoken.

The following was edited for length.

Your hot take on Jimmy Kimmel?

I'm glad he's back on the air. I don't believe in this cancel culture business, or the banishment of anybody. ... Out of respect for the relationship — I've been on his show five times and we got along — I actually offered advice to him through his friend Adam Carolla about a year ago because I saw where Kimmel was going. He's got to stop being a zealot. That's what's killing these [late night] guys now. They're political zealots.

To the book: Is your long-running 'Killing' series over, to be replaced by 'Confronting?'

It's opened up a little bit more of an avenue for me to explore a number of topics in one book. When you do a "Killing" book, that is the topic — "Killing SS," "Killing Reagan," whatever. With "Confronting," the title is snappy and gives me the opportunity to do multiple people in one book.

Your definition of evil is straightforward here.

Evil is a very simple concept. When you hurt another human being on purpose, with no remorse, that is an evil act, and when you do it over and over again, you are evil.

Ah, but under that definition, there are many ways to define evil. Have you ever done an evil act yourself?

Yeah, but in Christian theology, you feel remorse, and then you go to confession, or whatever it is in your faith, and you say, "I'm sorry." None of these people ever said, "I am sorry."

How does one confront evil in the American past? I'm thinking in particular of those harrowing chapters on the slave trade and the slaughter at Fort Pillow [the Civil War battle where Confederates massacred large numbers of Black troops after they surrendered].

You have to recognize what evil was. [The slave trade] was a pure money plan — "We don't care whether these people live or die, we're going to make money." ... The country has to say, all right, but we're going to try to rectify that situation as best we can going forward. I think that's what happened in the United States to some extent. Other people disagree with me, but I think we have tried to mitigate that horrible evil that permeated this country.

Above all others profiled, Putin seems to take center stage for you.

Putin is the poster boy for that in the modern world right now. This guy is a psychopath. He's got nukes and he'll use them, in my opinion, if his back is up against the wall. So Trump's got a big problem with Putin. He's not the same guy he was dealing with in his first term. This always happens. Evil gets worse, never gets better.

You've spoken with President Trump about Putin?

Oh yes, he was at Yankee Stadium on 9/11 — asked me to come to the game — and I brought a copy of the book with me, and handed it to him. "Look, I know you're busy Mr. President, but read the book." About 24 hours later, he texted me, "Whoa." ... He's gonna have to deal with Putin. I hope that by reading that chapter, it makes it easier for him.

Your recent trip to China?

I wasn't going over there in a confrontational situation but it was amazing, and my son [who came along] was looking at me, like "How did this ever happen?" Life is strange but YouTube made it happen. They watch every night — I asked — but if you're a Chinese citizen, you can't watch because it's not available. But the government's watching. They're fascinated with President Trump because he's so different from the people they've dealt with over the years.

Puzzled or fascinated or both?

They'll never tell you. But I know they're fascinated because all the questions they asked me were Trump-centric.

Are you now kind of like a Bernard Baruch [adviser to Woodrow Wilson, FDR] to Trump?

More of a Harry Hopkins [FDR foreign policy adviser and so much more]. Four presidents have asked my opinion on various things and I don't care whether they're Democrat or Republican. They want to know my opinion, I'll give them my opinion. I don't sugarcoat. And that's why Beijing asked me to come, because they knew I wasn't a diplomat. I wasn't gonna give them a dance. They're gonna ask me a question, I'm gonna answer. That's exactly what I did.

Ever been asked to be part of Trump's administration?

No, it's not me. I'm available if you want to know what I think.

Your thoughts on the president's attempts to silence his media critics through lawsuits and other measures?

I don't think he's wrong. I'll leave it at that. I used to be on "Letterman" all the time, "Leno," "Kimmel," "The View, the morning shows, but since Trump got serious about politics, they've blocked all nonliberal voices. ... That's the real violation of freedom of speech, right there.

You cite money, power, and zealotry as the necessary ingredients for evil. But those can sometimes drive corporate America too. Your former employer paid nearly $800 million to settle the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit in 2023. Were these ingredients a factor there too?

Every corporation is responsible for both good and evil [but] I understood from the very beginning, 50 years ago, that if I was going to work for these corporations, they had power over me. If they were writing the check, they can do whatever they want to do. I have no recourse at all — none. [But] as far as Fox News is concerned, picture a country where Fox News didn't exist. You'd have every single media corporation in television news leaning left, embracing the progressive movement. Is that what you want? Come on!

Nevertheless, the ideological extremes in cable news — both left or right — have become more extreme since you left Fox. Do you agree?

The age of Trump changed all broadcast news [because] we never had a populist president like Donald Trump in modern times. ... All I want is the freedom to report and analyze honestly, and I had that at Fox.

Do you miss Fox?

No, and that's not an insult. Fox was very generous to me [but] I own my own operation and it's the most successful independent news agency in the world, based on accounts receivable. I'm not going to give you figures [but] we have an amazing number of sponsors, on radio and on YouTube [and] I won't take gambling [ads], pot, alcohol — none of that.

I want to ask about the sexual harassment allegations that lead to your departure in 2017. Your statement at the time, in part, said it was "tremendously disheartening that we parted ways due to completely unfounded claims." Do you still feel the same way?

The statement stands.

Any other regrets?

No. Why bother with that?

Has it dogged you in any way?

Clearly not. Twenty No. 1 bestsellers.

It seems to me you never quite fit with any label, but the notion endures that you are a 'conservative commentator.' Have you ever seen yourself that way?

No, I'm a traditionalist, not a conservative. Traditionalist means that you feel that your country is noble [and] that the reason that America is the most successful country that's ever existed for a massive amount of people is because of its tradition of freedom. It's the tradition of treating people in a dignified way. We haven't always lived up to that [but] progressives want a whole new country. They want to change everything. I reject that 100%.

 I s the country still living up to those traditional values you espouse? I'm thinking of the controversial ICE raids.

Sometimes but no country is immune to mistakes. We make a lot of mistakes in America. [But] non-criminal aliens should not be lumped in with the criminals. There should be a separate apparatus for that and therefore they would get due process. I think that's a fair way.

A couple of personal questions: Do you ever take a breather?

I've been doing this for 50 years and all my contemporaries are riding around in golf carts, playing pickleball, and they're calling me up — "What are you doing?" I can't really explain it. I don't do it for the money, but it can get overwhelming.

Any plans to uproot for Florida?

No! I've got family here. I've got friends here. I have deep roots here. [New York] State's not going in the right direction, in my opinion, but I'm gonna hold out as long as I can.

Are you pessimistic or optimistic about the future?

I'm agnostic. I'm not going to live to see how the present-day controversies play out to the end, but I think most people are good people, and I have a good circle of friends. I keep all those people very tight around me. That's a Long Island thing.