CBS viewers should not be surprised when the season 49 finale of Survivor is interrupted by President Donald Trump. CBS News will air a special report on Wednesday, December 17, where Trump, 79, is expected to share an update with the public from the White House at 9 p.m. ET. CBS News' Norah O'Donnell will anchor reporting from the White House with appearances by chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes. Trump's message is expected to cause a delay for the Survivor finale, which is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET. The competition series will resume where it left off immediately following the president's address for Eastern and Central time zone viewers, with plans for the finale to air in its entirety. "My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. I look forward to 'seeing' you then," Trump wrote via Truth Social. "It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!" Midseason 2026 TV Schedule: See When Your Favorite Shows Will Air The Survivor finale was originally scheduled to run from 8 p.m to 11 p.m. ET. (The other preempted programming includes Fox's season finale of The Floor, which also begins at 8 p.m. ET. ) Sage Ahrens-Nichols, Sophi Balerdi, Savannah Louie, Kristina Mills and Rizo Velovic are the only remaining castaways in Fiji. They are competing for a $1 million prize - with two of the contestants returning for next year's all-star 50th season of Survivor. Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images Earlier this year, Jeff Probst revealed the cast for milestone season 50. The cast includes White Lotus creator Mike White, who previously competed on season 37, and Survivor legend Cirie Fields. Season 1's Jenna, season 2's Colby, season 10's Stephenie, season 13's Ozzy, season 18's Coach, season 32's Aubry, season 35's Chrissy, season 37's Christian and Angelina, season 38's Rick, season 42's Jonathan, season 45's Dee and Emily, season 46's Q, Tiffany and Charlie, season 47's Genevieve and season 48's Kamilla, Kyle and Joe. Season 50, which filmed in Fiji over the summer, will feature the first cast of returning players since season 40, which aired in 2020. The "Winners at War" season featured two tribes of 10 winners from past Survivor seasons competing for the $2 million prize. Fan favorites such as Rob and Amber Mariano, Parvati Shallow, Sandra Diaz-Twine and Ethan Zohn returned for season 40 before Tony Vlachos walked away as the winner. CBS Midseason Schedule for New, Returning Shows: 'Tracker' to 'Y: Marshals' Probst, 64, who has hosted Survivor since its 2000 premiere, previously opened up about honoring the show's fans by letting them make decisions for season 50. "I wanted it to be a thank you to the fans because that's the whole reason we've been on so long is their loyalty of sticking with us," he told Entertainment Weekly in February. "Even if they don't love every idea, they don't quit on us. The fans will have a chance to either in one way go back to our roots, but in another way move us into the future. And I'm really curious where that is going to go because we're going to give you some choices to make." The Survivor season 49 finale airs on CBS Wednesday, December 17, at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Paramount+.