Trump walks out after heated interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker

Headlines say Donald Trump is “rushing out” of his interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker.

The truth was a little more nuanced.

It’s easy to second guess. The inherent tension that comes with interviewing any politician for television—especially this president, who can dominate such a session—requires split-second decisions.

Having interviewed Trump multiple times — most notably in a risky session at his invitation, two weeks before the election — has given me a certain perspective.

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Things did not end well with Welker:

“You’re crooked, your press is crooked, and ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked.”

“To be fair, I’m not twisted.”

“Really? Then you’re playing right into their hands. You’re either a fraud or an idiot.”

Oh my god.

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And then: “I’m sorry. Let’s just let it go because enough is enough. Thank you, darling. Have fun.”

I’m pretty sure Trump never called me darling. He seems to treat some women differently.

The other day, he mocked CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for asking a question, saying she was “beautiful” but that he could never see her smile and that she had “hate in her eyes.” Even in the Welker interview, Trump said ABC, CBS and CNN were also crooked.

It’s close to a no-win situation. You prepare a lot of blue cards, knowing that you cannot achieve everything. No matter how wide-ranging the interview, armchair critics will hit you:

“Yes, why didn’t you ask? HE?“

President Trump has a history of dissing media figures. (Samuel Çorum/Getty Images)

My approach is that you should let the guest speak, but step in when he becomes what the senators call the filibuster. And verify in real time whenever possible.

Where Welker fell into the trap, in my view, was that he interrupted Trump so often that it appeared as if he was arguing with him.

There were times when Welker’s persistence paid off. When he asked about the $1.8 billion “anti-gun” project that even Republican members of Congress condemned, there was an exchange of ideas.

-Welker: To be very clear, are you abandoning the fund altogether, as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has said, or are you looking for another way to revive it?

EMBERS: Let me explain what the fund is. People have been hurt very badly by radical leftist lunatics working for the Biden administration and Sleepy Joe. They are very bad.

What they do to people is violent. And of course they went after me more than anyone else. They raided Mar-a-Lago and everything else. But people suffered a lot. They committed suicide. They lost their jobs. They lost their families.

They lost their spouses. They lost everything. They lost everything because of the false weaponization of the government. Now let me just tell you—”

-Welker: So are you looking for a way to jazz it up?

EMBERS: I didn’t want to say this, but I need to see. I can tell you this: You look at 97% of these people, the FBI or whoever, because you had a lot of crooked cops, dirty cops. Comey was a dirty cop. A man like Bolton was a dirty cop.”

-Welker: But people…”

EMBERS: Wait a minute. You think Comey is a straight cop?

-Welker: We had 170 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers.

EMBERS: Comey was a dirty cop.

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“But people attacking police officers,” Welker responded.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weaponization fund. I love the idea because people like you, the fake dirty press, the distorted press, people like stupid Biden, not smart enough to understand what’s going on, but the people who surround him, who surround his beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, they’ve ruined people with what they’ve done to people’s lives. They’ve sent people to prison who haven’t done anything wrong.”

Welker intervened again. “Let me be very clear, there is no evidence of what you say.”

“There is so much evidence. Listen to me… There is tremendous evidence. There is nothing but evidence.”

“Well, this wasn’t presented in a court of law.”

“The election was rigged,” Trump said. “It was a dirty election. And the same thing is happening in California right now.”

“Do you have any evidence to support this?”

“All I have to do is look.”

“But that’s not proof.”

“Well, it wasn’t presented in a court of law,” Welker said.

“The election was rigged,” Trump said.

“There is no proof of this, sir.”

President Trump called former FBI Director James Comey a “dirty cop.” (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

It was as if he was worried about criticism that the media would go easy on him if he wasn’t seen challenging her every few seconds.

But this is where the last six minutes become a complete blackout.

-Welker: Okay, to be very clear, there is no evidence for what you say, but let me ask about Todd Blanche.

EMBERS: There is plenty of evidence.

-Welker: Let me ask about Todd Blanche.

EMBERS: Listen – listen to me – listen to me.

-Welker: Let’s talk about Todd Blanche.

EMBERS: There is tremendous evidence. There is nothing but evidence.

-Welker: Well, this wasn’t presented in a court of law.

EMBERS: The election was rigged. It was a dirty choice.

-Welker: Mr. President –

EMBERS: And the same thing is happening again in California right now.

-Welker: — you never provided evidence —

My view is that audiences are smart. They know when a guest dodges a question or changes the subject; This, of course, is heavily influenced by partisan loyalties. You don’t need to keep attacking them. Welker could explain this to the audience after the recording.

One last perspective.

When the last episode went off the rails, the president and the moderator had spent nearly an hour in a warehouse in Wisconsin talking about Iran, nuclear issues, the economy, gas prices, the fight against farmers and more. He had given him enough time. They were interrupted by rain.

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Welker asked about his campaign promise to end foreign wars.

“I didn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be a war,” Trump insisted. “Why would I build the most powerful army in the world?”

There are a few 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 disruptions, and we will have prosperity and peace for everyone.” Again, this could have been added to an on-camera label.

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One thing is for sure: Kristen Welker’s interview made a lot of news, which must make her and her circle very happy.