NBC’s Kristen Welker says Donald Trump sounded noticeably calmer after their explosive “Meet the Press” interview ended with him storming off the set.
In an interview with Vanity Fair published Thursday, Welker revealed that she spoke with Trump the morning after the now-infamous exchange.
“I spoke to him the morning after the interview, and without getting into an exact verbatim of what was said, he effectively said, ‘Look, the rain was disruptive. We’re going to do this again in Washington,'” Welker said.
The Sunday-aired interview had deteriorated into one of Trump’s most combative television appearances in recent memory.
As rain hammered the metal roof of a Wisconsin barn that had been transformed into a makeshift studio, Welker pressed Trump on his repeated claims that the 2020 election was rigged, that the recent California election was also tainted by fraud, and that FBI agents had ushered the pro-Trump mob into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Welker repeatedly asked the president to provide evidence for those allegations. He did not.
Instead, Trump’s frustration steadily escalated.
He called Welker “crooked” multiple times and accused her of being “stupid” as he lashed out at both the journalist and the media more broadly.
Eventually, the interview reached its breaking point.
“All right, let’s call it quits cause I’ve had enough,” Trump said. “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
As Welker reminded him that she had traveled “all the way to Wisconsin” for the interview — something Vanity Fair reported she later regretted — Trump defended his decision to end the conversation.
“I’ve sat in the rain with you for an hour … and I’ve given you enough time,” he said. “You oughta straighten out your press because you know what, a country can never be great with a dishonest press.”
“C’mon, let’s go,” he told his aides before standing up, briefly touching Welker on the shoulder, and walking off the set.
Despite the confrontation, Welker suggested Trump’s tone shifted considerably afterward, with the president agreeing to sit down for another interview in Washington.
Welker, who has covered Trump since the beginning of his first presidential campaign, said the outbursts no longer surprise her.
“I’ve covered President Trump since 2015 when he was a candidate, and it doesn’t faze me at all,” she told Vanity Fair. “It’s part of the conversation. I anticipate it to some extent.”
The interview also renewed scrutiny of Trump’s increasingly hostile exchanges with journalists, particularly women, amid other recent clashes involving CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Even so, Welker’s account suggests that after one of the most contentious interviews of his presidency, both sides are preparing for a rematch.
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