Donald Trump was interviewed on June 5, 2026, by NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press at a farm in Wisconsin. The location’s metal-roofed barn and heavy rain caused repeated audio interruptions during the nearly 50-minute session [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
Throughout the interview, Trump claimed without evidence that the 2020 presidential election and the current California gubernatorial primary were "rigged" or "cheated" and accused NBC and Welker of bias. He said, "You’re either crooked or you’re stupid. You play right into their hands with this crap. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged" [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Welker repeatedly pressed Trump for proof but he did not provide any substantiation [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
The interview also discussed Trump’s previously proposed $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund intended to compensate people claiming government persecution. While Trump expressed support, he grew evasive and irritated when asked if January 6 Capitol riot participants would qualify. Trump falsely alleged FBI agents invited the rioters and that defendants took plea deals out of fear of longer sentences, claims with no evidence [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7].
Trump denied making promises to avoid new wars if reelected, saying the US-Iran conflict lasted "only about three months" and emphasizing the need for a strong military. He revealed details of talks on a near-final permanent nuclear deal requiring Iran to abandon nuclear weapon development. Sanctions would remain until a formal agreement was signed [1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11].
The interview ended abruptly when Trump called the media "crooked" and "dishonest" and referred to Welker as "either crooked or stupid" before removing his microphone and walking off roughly 50 minutes after starting. Following the interview, Welker said she spoke with Trump again and agreed to a follow-up interview, though no date was set [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
The edited interview aired nationally on NBC’s Meet the Press on June 7, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
