U.S. President Donald Trump walked out of an interview on NBC's popular program Meet the Press after a tense exchange with female news anchor Kristen Welker. The confrontation arose over questions about allegations of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, as well as issues concerning reparations for those involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
The tension occurred during the recording of the political news program Meet the Press on NBC, which aired on Sunday (7 Jun). President Donald Trump decided to abruptly end the interview and walked off set after being pressed heavily about his claims of election fraud and questions about funds to assist defendants involved in the Capitol breach.
The incident took place during the interview recording on Friday (5 Jun) inside a barn in Wisconsin, where Trump had traveled to meet with farmers. The shoot was challenging due to technical problems and intermittent rain, lasting about 50 minutes before the atmosphere grew increasingly heated.
At one point in the interview, Kristen Welker, the anchor and host, questioned Trump about the "Anti-Weaponization of Government Fund," valued at $1.8 billion (approximately 63 billion baht). This was Trump’s plan, now canceled, intended to compensate individuals who claimed to have been unfairly investigated by the government. The plan faced heavy criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans, who feared it might be used to pay those involved in the January 6 Capitol riot.
When Welker asked whether those who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers on that day would be eligible to receive taxpayer money from this fund, Trump immediately showed irritation. He claimed without evidence, "Do you know why they pleaded guilty? Because they were threatened with 15 years in prison... They were scared, they had no way out. Actually, they were even invited by FBI agents to enter the building." Trump refused to directly answer whether these individuals should receive reparations.
The main trigger came when Trump linked the discussion to elections, vaguely claiming that the ongoing California gubernatorial primary vote count, as well as the 2020 presidential election which he lost, were all "staged and involved fraud."
Trump attacked that after four days in California, the vote count was still unfinished, accusing them of election fraud. Welker countered that this was a standard, meticulous process by California, which emphasizes mail-in ballots. She then asked Trump, “Do you have any evidence to support this claim?”
Trump replied, "All I have to do is watch and listen." Welker immediately responded, "But that's not evidence."
Welker's retort displeased Trump, who then launched an attack on the media, saying, "They are corrupt, just like you cheat. Your media is corrupt, and Meet the Press is corrupt." Welker defended herself, saying, "To be fair, I am not cheating, but let's continue our conversation."
However, Trump would not relent and harshly retorted, "If you're not cheating, then you're stupid. You are being used by this garbage. You know these elections are rigged. Your channel knows they are rigged." He concluded, "The country will never prosper if the media is not honest."
When Welker tried to change the subject, Trump cut her off and announced the end of the interview, saying, "Enough, let's stop talking because I’ve had enough. Thank you, have fun," while reaching to remove the microphone from his shirt.
When Welker reminded Trump she had traveled a long distance to Wisconsin for the interview, Trump replied before walking away, "I sat in the rain with you for hours—rain stopping and starting—and I’ve given you enough time. You should fix your media to be straightforward because do you know what? This country will never be great if dishonest media like this remain." He then waved to the off-camera crew and immediately left the set.
Aside from the heated exchange, earlier in the interview, they discussed the conflict situation with Iran. Trump affirmed that the U.S. must act to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and emphasized that this would not be a "never-ending war," expecting the threat to end within a few months.
After the broadcast, Kristen Welker revealed, "I spoke with President Trump again on Saturday, and we both understood the difficulties during the interview caused by the rain. The president agreed to schedule another interview with Meet the Press in the future."