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The headlines say Donald Trump “went on the offensive” in his interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker.
The truth was a little more subtle.
It’s easy to second guess. The natural tension that comes with interviewing any politician on television – but especially this president, who can handle this kind of sit-down – demands that there be split second decisions.
Having interviewed Trump many times – especially in a very important session two weeks before the election, at his invitation – it gives me some insight.
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President Donald Trump walked out of an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. The headlines say he “got up” and got out. (Adam Bettcher/NBC via Getty Images)
Things didn’t go well for Welker:
“You’re crooked, your press is crooked, And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked.”
“To tell the truth, I’m not hooked.”
“Really? Well, you’re playing right into their hands. You’re either crooked or an idiot.”
Geez.
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Then: “Sorry. Let’s stop because that’s enough. Thank you, honey. You had a great time.”
I’m pretty sure Trump never called me sweetheart. He seems to treat certain women differently.
The other day he ripped CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for asking a question, saying she was “beautiful” but never saw her smile and that she had “hate in her eyes.” Even in Welker’s interview, Trump said that ABC, CBS and CNN were also disciplined.
It’s close to a no-win situation. You prepare a stack of green cards, knowing you won’t get to them all. It doesn’t matter how broad the interview is, armchair critics will hit you:
“Yes, why didn’t you ask that?“
President Trump has a history of being heard in the news. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
My approach is that you should let the guest speak, but jump in when it becomes what the church calls a filibuster. And check the truth in real time if you can.
Where Welker fell into the trap, in my opinion, was that he interrupted Trump so often that it looked like he was contradicting him.
Now there were times when Welker’s persistence paid off. When he asked about the $1.8 billion “anti-weapons” that even Republican members of Congress criticized, there was this exchange.
WELKER: Just to be clear, do you fully support the fund, as your acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has said, or are you looking for another way to revive the fund?
TRUMP: So let me explain what a bag is. People have been badly hurt by the left-wing lunatics working for the Biden and Joe Othongo administrations. They are cruel.
They are violent, what they do to people. And, of course, they follow me more than anyone else. They raided Mar-a-Lago and everything else. But people have been hurt badly. They have killed themselves. They lost their jobs. They lost their families.
They lost their wives. They lost everything. They lost everything because of the government’s fake weapons. Now let me tell you-“
WELKER: So are you looking for a way to revive it?
TRUMP: I hate to say so, but I have to see it. I can tell you this: 97 percent of those people, you look at them, the FBI or whoever it was, because you had a lot of crooked cops, you had dirty cops. Comey was a dirty cop. A guy like Bolton was a dirty cop. “
WELKER: But there is no evidence that people—”
TRUMP: Wait a minute. Do you think Comey was a straight cop?
WELKER: We had 170 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting the police.
TRUMP: Comey was a dirty cop.
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“But the people who attacked the police,” Welker shot back.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weapons bag. I love this idea, because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like the stupid Biden, he’s not smart enough to know what’s going on, but the people around him, around his beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, who sent the wrong people to ruin people’s lives.
Welker intervened again. “Just to be clear, there is no proof of what you are saying.”
“There’s a lot of evidence. Listen to me… There’s overwhelming evidence. Nothing but evidence.”
“Well, it has never been presented in court.”
“The election got tough,” Trump said. “It was a dirty election. And it’s happening again right now in California.”
“Do you have any evidence to support that?”
“All I have to do is look.”
“But that’s not proof.”
“Well, it wasn’t presented in court,” Welker said.
“The election got tough,” Trump said.
“There is no evidence of that, sir.”
President Trump called former FBI Director James Comey a “dirty cop.” (Dipasupil/Getty Images)
It’s as if he’s worried about the media’s criticism that he’s been taking it easy when he can’t be seen challenging him every few seconds.
But here’s where the last six minutes became a distraction-a-thon.
WELKER: Okay, this is, to be very clear, there is no proof of what you say, but let me ask about Todd Blanche.
TRUMP: There is a lot of evidence.
WELKER: Let me ask about Todd Blanche.
TRUMP: Listen – listen to me – listen to me.
WELKER: Let’s talk about Todd Blanche.
TRUMP: There is a lot of evidence. Nothing but evidence.
WELKER: Well, it was not presented in a court of law.
TRUMP: The election was rigged. It was a dirty election.
WELKER: Mr. President –
TRUMP: And it’s happening again right now in California.
WELKER: – you never testified –
My opinion is that viewers are smart. They know when a guest answers a question or changes the subject—highly influenced by the group’s credibility. You don’t have to keep pounding it on them. Welker could have explained this to viewers after the taping.
One final thought.
By the time that last stage derailed, the president and the president had talked in a Wisconsin barn for about an hour, about Iran, nuclear issues, the economy, gas prices, struggling farmers and more. He had given her a lot of time. They were disturbed by the rain.
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Welker questioned his campaign promise to end foreign wars.
“I didn’t make sure there was no war,” Trump insisted. “Why would I build the strongest army in the world?”
There are several examples from the 2024 campaign. At an August rally in Pennsylvania that year, for example, the candidate said: “Under Trump, we will have no more wars, no more disturbances, and we will have prosperity and peace for all.” Also, that can be added to the camera tag.
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One thing’s for sure: Kristen Welker’s interview made a lot of news, so that should make her and her network happy.
