KRISTEN WELKER:
This Sunday, my exclusive interview with former President Donald Trump.
KRISTEN WELKER:
When you go to bed at night, do you worry about going to jail?
KRISTEN WELKER:
On the role he played in challenging the results of the 2020 election.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Were you calling the shots, though, Mr. President, ultimately?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
As to whether or not I believed it was rigged? Oh, sure.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It was my decision.
KRISTEN WELKER:
On the charges he’s facing in the classified documents case.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You asked a staffer to delete security camera footage, so it wouldn't get into the hands of investigators. did they do that –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
That's false. But let me tell you –
KRISTEN WELKER:
That's false.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
But let me tell you –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Did you testify to that under oath –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Sure. I'm going to. I'll testify –
KRISTEN WELKER:
And how he would lead if he won in 2024.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you sign federal legislation that would ban abortion at 15 weeks?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No. No. Let me just tell you what I'd do.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Joining me for insight and analysis are NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent Laura Jarrett, New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker and NBC News Washington Managing Editor Carol Lee. Welcome To Sunday. It’s Meet The Press.
ANNOUNCER:
From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Good Sunday morning. We begin this new chapter of Meet the Press after yet another extraordinary week in American politics. House republicans announced an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The president's son Hunter was indicted on gun charges and House conservatives doubled down on their threat to shut down the government. Meanwhile, people close to President Biden are increasingly worried his son's legal troubles could strain the president's focus on what's expected to be a razor close election. It was against that backdrop that I sat down with the former president at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, his first network interview since leaving office. We have extended the same invitation to President Biden. Mr. Trump has been criminally indicted four times and faces 91 felony counts but continues to hold a commanding lead as the Republican frontrunner. I began by asking Mr. Trump what a second term would look like if he’s re-elected.
[START TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
When you talk about retribution, are you talking about directing your attorney general to try to go after your political enemies?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
When I talk about retribution, I'm talking about fairness. We have to treat people fairly. These people on January 6th, they went – some of them never even went into the building, and they're being given sentences of, you know, many years.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you going to pardon those people –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And nothing is happening.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– who've been convicted –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I'm going to look at them, and I certainly might if I think it's appropriate. No, it's a very, very sad thing. And it’s – they're dividing the country so badly, and it's very dangerous.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, Mr. President, we're going to delve into that a little bit later on, but I want to stay on this idea of what you mean by retribution. Are you looking to appoint an attorney general who will prosecute the people you tell them to prosecute?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I'm looking to appoint an attorney general who's going to be tough on crime and fair. Very simple.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Speaker McCarthy announced that he was launching an impeachment inquiry this week into President Biden. Do you see this as a part of the retribution that you seek?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, not at all. I think, look, you look at the terrible things that have been happening with respect to Biden. Look at everything: Jamie Comer, Jim Jordan, who are fantastic people and very legitimate people. I watched Jamie Comer just a little while ago talking about a lot of different facets of what's going on, and he was the one that said, "I guess there were – there were 12 things where it looks like it's stone-cold guilty, and the gun charge is only one of the 12." He said, "This is the only one that doesn't implicate Joe Biden."
KRISTEN WELKER:
So, but my question for you: Did you talk to Speaker McCarthy about this House impeachment inquiry?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, no. I don't talk to him like that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Did you tell him that he should open a House impeachment inquiry?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, no. I don't do that. I don't think he'd do that. I mean, he wouldn't do it based on me, no.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Did you talk to your Republican allies on Capitol Hill and say, "You should support this impeachment inquiry"?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, I don't have to talk – they're more proactive than I am. They think it's terrible.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you think Republican hardliners should abandon their threat to shut down the government over their spending priorities now that there is this impeachment inquiry?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No. I think if they don't get a fair deal – we have to save our country. We have $35 trillion in debt. We have to save our country. You know, the –
KRISTEN WELKER:
So, you would shut down the government? You'd support that?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I'd shut down the government if they can't make an appropriate deal, absolutely.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You are facing four indictments, 91 felony charges.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
If you would say it properly, I'm facing four Biden indictments. He told the Justice Department to indict him, or Merrick Garland said, "Let's indict him."
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you this, Mr. President –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They indicted their political opponent –
KRISTEN WELKER:
I just want to hear from you on this. I want to know what's in your head. When you go to bed at night, do you worry about going to jail?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, I don't really. I don't even think about it. I'm built a little differently I guess, because I have had people come up to me and say, "How do you do it, sir? How do you do it?" I don't even think about it. These are corrupt people that I'm dealing with. They're destroying our country. I don't even think about it. All I think about is making the country great, making America great. Look, these are political, these are banana republic indictments. These are third-world indictments. The president of the United States sees how we're doing. We have a movement the likes of which has never happened in this country before. And you see it with the polls. I mean, I'm up on these people by 60 points and 59 points. And, I don't mean I'm at 59, I'm leading them by 59. You almost say, like, "Why are they campaigning?" Asa Hutchinson, he's at zero. Christie's at two. Other ones are at one. DeSanctimonious is at nine. I just see a poll come – I mean, I'm leading him by 60 points.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And you say, "Why are they doing that?" But here's what they did. They saw this happening, and he went to the attorney general of the United States, and he told them, "Indict Trump."
KRISTEN WELKER:
There is just no evidence of that, Mr. President –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Oh why? Because you mean he's honest –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But let's, let’s stay on track –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Look at all the lies he's told--
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Mr. President, I want to talk about you.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Kristen, wait a minute, wait, wait. Could I say one thing? Look at all the lies he's told over the last couple of weeks. He said he was at the World Trade Center and he wasn't. He said he flew airplanes, right? He didn't. He said he drove trucks, and he didn't. Everything he says is, like, a lie. It's terrible.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, I want –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Even his handicap in golf, he said he's a six –
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to stick –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
He's not a six.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to stay focused on you, for the purposes of this interview –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Okay.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– okay? Because it's important that we hear from you about all of this. Tell me –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I'd like you to, but you keep interrupting me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Tell me – Mr. President, tell me what you see when you look at your mugshot?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I see somebody that loves this country, and me, that loves this country. I see tremendous unfairness. I think very few people would have been able to handle what I handled.
KRISTEN WELKER:
By the way, do you think your former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is still loyal to you? He just pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I hope he's loyal to me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you worry about him flipping?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I mean, I didn't do anything wrong –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you worry about him –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I didn't do anything wrong.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. I want to ask you about the case related to Mar-a-Lago. A new charge suggests you asked a staffer to delete security camera footage so it wouldn't get into the hands of investigators. Did you do that?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
That's false.
KRISTEN WELKER
It’s false?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
That's false, but let me tell you --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you testify to that under oath?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Sure. I'm going to. I'll testify --
KRISTEN WELKER:
You’ll testify to that under oath?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It's a fake --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– charge by this deranged lunatic prosecutor, who lost in the Supreme Court nine to nothing. And he tried to destroy lots of lives. He's a lunatic. So it's a fake charge. But, more importantly, the tapes weren't deleted. In other words, there was nothing done to them. And they were my tapes. I could've fought them. I didn't even have to give them the tapes, I don't think. I think I would have won in court. When they asked for the tapes, I said, "Sure." They're my tapes. I could have fought them. I didn't even have to give them. Just so you understand, though, we didn't delete anything. Nothing was deleted.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So that's false. The people who testified --
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Number one, the statement is false. Much more importantly, when the tapes came, and everybody says this, they weren't deleted. We gave them 100%.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. Let’s --
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And, and, and, just so you know, I offered them. I said, "If you want to look at tapes, you can look at them."
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's move on to January 6th and the allegations that you tried to subvert the election. And, again, I just want to give you a chance to talk about this because voters want to hear about this. The most senior lawyers in your own administration and on your campaign told you that after you lost more than 60 legal challenges that it was over. Why did you ignore them and decide to listen to a new outside group of attorneys –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Because I didn't respect them --
KRISTEN WELKER:
You'd hired them.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– as lawyers. Sure. But that doesn't mean -- you hire them, you never met these people. You get a recommendation. They turn out to be RINOs, or they turn out to be not so good. In many cases, I didn't respect them. But I did respect others. I respected many others that said the election was rigged.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You called some of your outside lawyers – you said they had crazy theories. Why were you listening to them? Were you listening to them because they were telling you what you wanted to hear?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You know who I listen to? Myself. I saw what happened. I watched that election, and I thought the election was over at 10 o'clock in the evening.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You were listening to your instincts?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
My instincts are a big part of it. That's been the thing that's gotten me to where I am, my instincts. But I also listen to people. There are many lawyers. I could give you many books. There are books that are written on how the election was rigged. There are numerous books that were written on how the election was rigged.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Just to be clear, were you listening to your lawyers' advice, or were you listening to your own instincts?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I was listening to different people. And when I added it all up, the election was rigged. There are books that are written –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Were you calling the shots though?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
In fact, Mollie Hemingway wrote a great book –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But were you calling –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– called “Rigged” –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– the shots ultimately?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Excuse me. Mollie Hemingway, who's highly respected and great, she wrote a book, a bestselling book called “Rigged.”
KRISTEN WELKER:
Were you calling the shots, though, Mr. President, ultimately?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
As to whether or not I believed it was rigged? Oh, sure.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It was my decision. But I listened to some people. Some people said that. Like, guys like Bill Barr, who was a stiff, but he wasn't there at the time. But he didn't do his job because he was afraid. You know what he was afraid of? He was afraid of being impeached. He was petrified to be impeached. And he – how do you not get impeached? Don't do anything.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Now, as you just heard, former President Trump referred to the federal indictments against him as "Biden indictments." The indictments have been charged by a special counsel. And according to the White House, President Biden has not spoken to the attorney general about them, and the White House found out about them from news reports. As for the impeachment inquiry, so far congressional investigators have not presented any evidence that President Biden has profited off of Hunter Biden's business dealings. I also talked to former President Trump about his actions on January 6th and why he never sent help when the Capitol was under attack. In our conversation he directly contradicted the sworn testimony of one of his aides, who testified to the January 6th committee that the former president was so determined to go to the Capitol himself after his rally that he grabbed a service agent inside the president’s limo. Take a listen.
[START TAPE]
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I wanted to go down peacefully and patriotically to the Capitol. Secret Service, who I have great respect for, said, "Sir, it's better if you don't do that. It could be unsafe." Because – they didn’t mean because of riots because, you know, it takes one guy with bad intentions, okay. So I didn't have a dispute with them. You know you had that one person said I grabbed the man around the neck. Actually, I wish I was so strong to be able to do that. These are all tough guys, smart guys –
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you dispute that account?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Dispute it? Who wouldn't dispute it? She’s – the craziest account I've ever heard. You mean that I was in “The Beast,” and she said I was in “The Beast,” and the Secret Service didn't want -- so I took a guy who was like a black belt in karate and grabbed his neck and tried to choke him –
KRISTEN WELKER:
What happened –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
How ridiculous. Just so you understand, and I have great respect for Secret Service, by the way. They're fantastic. The Secret Service said, "Sir, it would be better if you didn't." I said, "I'd love to do it." They said, "It would be better." And so we went back to the White House. Just so you understand: I spoke. I made a very nice speech.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Tell me how you watched this all unfold. Were you in the dining room watching TV?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I'm not going to tell you. I'll tell people later at an appropriate time. Just so you understand, however –
KRISTEN WELKER:
What did you do when the Capitol was –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And I made beautiful statements.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– under attack, though –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Let me just tell you –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– in the moment that the Capitol was under attack?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Did you see the statements I made in the Oval Office and just outside of the Oval Office?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Absolutely. I was there that day.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
“Go home. Our police are great. We love our police. We love everybody. Go home.”
KRISTEN WELKER:
That was –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
This was –
KRISTEN WELKER:
That was before –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– a beautiful statement –
KRISTEN WELKER:
That was at 4 o'clock in the afternoon –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
When that statement was made –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– more than –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– I don't know –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– three hours after the attack –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
But there –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– started –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– but there were tweets that were put out –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– Mr. President –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– before that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to know who you called on that day.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
By the way, Nancy Pelosi –
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to talk about that day.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I don't have -- why would I tell you that? Listen. Nancy Pelosi –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Don't want to talk about that?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– was in charge of security. She turned down 10,000 soldiers. If she didn't turn down the soldiers, you wouldn't have had January 6th.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Did you call military or law enforcement?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
What?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Did you call military or law enforcement at the moment the Capitol was under attack?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I'm not going to tell you anything. I told –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Let me put it this way. I behaved so well. I did such a good job. Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 soldiers. If she didn't do that –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Nancy Pelosi doesn't have the authority that you had as commander and chief, though.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– and now I understand – I understand that the police testified against -- listen to me, Kristen. Listen to me. I understand that the police testified against her – the chief, very strongly against her. Capitol Police, they're great people. They testified against her. And they burned all the evidence. Okay? They burned all the evidence.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They destroyed all the evidence about Nancy Pelosi.
KRISTEN WELKER:
What do you say to people who wonder why you -- you, as commander in chief, you have authorities that Nancy Pelosi doesn't have, as commander in chief.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, no. She has authority over the Capitol.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Why didn't you send help in that moment, though?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Uh, frankly, just so you understand, I assumed that she took care of it. She turned down --
KRISTEN WELKER:
But when you realized that the National Guard wasn't coming? When help wasn't coming?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, you don't realize anything until quite a while. National Guard are not coming. I asked her to be there three days in advance. And she turned it down.
KRISTEN WELKER:
She says that that request was never officially made, just so you know.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Oh, stop it. Let me just tell you –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you about pardons –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
The mayor of D.C. –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
The mayor of D.C. gave us a letter, saying that she turns it down, okay? We have it. Nancy Pelosi also was asked, and she turned it down. The police commissioner of Capitol Police –
KRISTEN WELKER:
I'm talking about the day of, though.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Wait a minute.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Capitol Police said that he wanted it. And Nancy Pelosi wouldn't accept it. She's responsible for January 6th.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let’s – Mr. President.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Nancy Pelosi is responsible. And the J6 Committee refused to interview her.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, you're the president though. You have – You have authorities that no one else has, as the commander in chief. Do you think you showed leadership on that day?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yes. Absolutely. I did.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, if you were re-elected, would you pardon yourself?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I could've pardoned myself. Do you know what? I was given an option to pardon myself. I could've pardoned myself when I left. People said, "Would you like to pardon yourself?" I had a couple of attorneys that said, "You can do it if you want." I had some people that said, "It would look bad, if you do." Because I think it would look terrible. I said, "Here's the story. These people are thugs, horrible people, fascists, Marxists, sick people. They've been after me from the day I came down the escalator with Melania. And I did a great job as president." People are – great economy, great jobs, great this, great that, rebuilt the military, Space Force, everything. We – I could go on forever. Let me just tell you. I said, “The last thing I'd ever do is give myself a pardon.” I could've given myself a pardon. Don't ask me about what I would do. I could've. The last day, I could've had a pardon done that would've saved me all of these lawyers, and all of these fake charges, these Biden indictments. They're all Biden indictments, political. They indicted – they want to arrest their political opponents. Only third-world countries do that, banana republics. So, ready? I never said this to anybody. I was given the option. I could've done a pardon of myself. You know what I said? "I have no interest in even thinking about it." I never even wanted to think about it. And I could've done it. And all of these questions you're asking me about, the fake charges, you wouldn't be asking me because it's a very powerful, it’s a very powerful thing for a president. I was told by some people that these are sick lunatics that I'm dealing with. "Give yourself a pardon. Your life will be a lot easier." I said, "I would never give myself a pardon."
KRISTEN WELKER:
Even if you were re-elected in this moment?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Oh, I think it's very unlikely. What – what did I do wrong? I didn't do anything wrong.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Now a bit of context here on Mr. Trump's allegations he ordered troops in the days leading up to the January 6th attack. The Defense Department says the former president never gave a formal order to have 10,000 troops ready to be deployed to the Capitol. Of course it’s unreasonable to blame former Speaker Pelosi or lawmakers on Capitol Hill for what happened that day. Pelosi's office said at the time that the claim that she turned down troops was quote "completely made up." When we come back former President Trump explains how would handle calls from within the GOP for a federal ban on abortion.
KRISTEN WELKER:
In the last election, more than a quarter of voters said the issue of abortion mattered most to them just behind inflation and the economy and last night, nine Republican candidates were back in Iowa, speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a reminder of how potent the abortion issue is in that early state. Mr. Trump didn't attend the event but I asked the former president how he would handle abortion in a second term.
[START TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
I do want to talk about the issue of abortion which is –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Okay.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– important to a lot of voters all across the country. Just this week, women in Idaho and Tennessee, I don't know if you saw this, filed suit against their states saying their lives were put at risk after they were denied abortion services, because of their states' restrictive laws put in place after Roe was overturned. So my question for you, Mr. President, is: How is it acceptable in America that women's lives are at risk, doctors are being forced to turn away patients in need, or risk breaking the law?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Ready? Little bit of a long answer. I hope you have time.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I hope you have time. I'm here for as long as you have.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
So you have Roe v. Wade, for 52 years, people including Democrats wanted it to go back to states so the states could make the right. Roe v. Wade – I did something that nobody thought was possible, and Roe v. Wade was terminated, was put back to the states. Now, people, pro-lifers, have the right to negotiate for the first time. They had no rights at all, because the radical people on this are really the Democrats that say, after five months, six months, seven months, eight months, nine months, and even after birth you're allowed to terminate the baby –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, Democrats aren't saying that. I just have to, Democrats are not saying that. Does it bother you though that women say their lives are being put at risk? Do you feel you bear any responsibility, because as you say, you are responsible for having Roe v. Wade overturned.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
What's going to happen, this is an issue that's been going on for a long time. And it's a very polarizing issue. Because of what's been done, and because of the fact we brought it back to the states, we're going to have people come together on this issue. They're going to determine the time, because nobody wants to see five, six, seven, eight, nine months. Nobody wants to see abortions when you have a baby in the womb. I said, with Hillary Clinton when we had the debate, I made a statement, "Rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, you're allowed to do that, and you shouldn't be allowed to do that."
KRISTEN WELKER:
Again, no one is arguing for that –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Again, listen, look –
KRISTEN WELKER:
That's not a part of anyone's argument, Mr. President.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Look, the Democrats are able to kill the baby after birth.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me talk to you –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Nobody wants that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Democrats don't want that either.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
So we're going to come together –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But let’s – I want to – I want to know what you want. I want to know what you're going to do if you’re –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We are going to come together –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you sign federal legislation that would ban abortion at 15 weeks?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, no. Let me just tell you what I'd do. I'm going to come together with all groups, and we're going to have something that's acceptable. Right now, to my way of thinking, the Democrats are the radicals, because after four and five and six months. But you have to say this, after birth. You have New York State and other places that passed legislation where you're allowed to kill the baby after birth.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, I want to give voters who are going to be weighing in on this election –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– a very clear sense of where you stand on –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I think they’ll – I think they're all going to like me. I think both sides are going to like me.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But, let me, let me – but Mr. President –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
What's going to have to happen is you're going to have to –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, let me just ask this question, please--
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Kristen, you're asking me a question. What's going to happen is you're going to come up with a number of weeks or months. You're going to come up with a number that's going to make people happy. Because 92% of the Democrats don't want to see abortion after a certain period of time.
KRISTEN WELKER:
If a federal ban landed on your desk if you were reelected, would you sign it at 15 weeks –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Are you talking about a complete ban?
KRISTEN WELKER:
A ban at 15 weeks.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, people, people are starting to think of 15 weeks. That seems to be a number that people are talking about right now.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you sign that?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I would sit down with both sides and I'd negotiate something, and we'll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years. I'm not going to say I would or I wouldn't. I mean, DeSanctus is willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you support that? You think that goes too far?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake. But we'll come up with a number, but at the same time, Democrats won't be able to go out at six months, seven months, eight months and allow an abortion.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, when you talk about negotiating, I think a lot of people think to themselves, this is an issue that they care about deeply in their hearts –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I care about it too. Oh, I care about it too.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And they know where they stand, and they want to know where you stand. As you know, some anti-abortion groups are really looking for some clarity from you. So let me just ask you to put a fine point on this. Should the federal government impose any abortion restrictions, or should it be completely left up to the states?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, I don't think you should have – I don’t think you should be allowed to have abortions well into a pregnancy.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But what about the question I just asked you –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We’re going to agree – no – we're going to agree to a number of weeks or months or however you want to define it. And both sides are going to come together and both sides – both sides, and this is a big statement, both sides will come together. And for the first time in 52 years, you'll have an issue that we can put behind us.
KRISTEN WELKER:
At the federal level?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It could be state or it could be federal. I don't frankly care.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you're not committed to a ban at the federal level.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I will say this. Everybody, including the great legal scholars, love the idea of Roe v. Wade terminated so it can be brought back to the states.
KRISTEN WELKER:
It sounds like that's what you think too, that it should remain a state issue –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I, I would, I would say this: From a pure standpoint, from a legal standpoint, I think it's probably better, but I can live with it either way. It’s much more important, the number of weeks is much more important. But something will happen with the number of weeks, the amount of time, after which you can't do it. And you know what? The most – the most powerful people that are anti-abortion are okay with that now. And you know what? They weren't okay with that even a year ago.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Your former vice president, Mike Pence, believes that a fetus should have constitutional rights. Do you believe that, Mr. president?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, Mike Pence said something about 15 weeks too, which was a big change for Mike Pence, because Mike Pence had no exceptions. I have exceptions, by the way. I think people should have exceptions. I think if it's rape or incest or the life of the mother, I think you have to have exceptions. It’s very important.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Does a fetus have constitutional rights, Mr. president?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And a lot of people, when they don't have exceptions – now, I will tell you that I think most people, most Republicans are willing. You go: life of the mother, rape, incest. I think most of them are there.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But should a fetus –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
That's a big statement.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– have constitutional rights, Mr. president?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I don't know, I don’t know what he's saying, because before, he wanted, you know, you couldn't have abortions at all –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But what are you saying? What do you think –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Now all of a sudden – excuse me – now all of a sudden he's saying 15 weeks. I said, "Wow, where did that come from? That's a radical change." Look, something is going to happen that's going to be good for everybody. And that’s what I’m – I'm almost like a mediator in this case. They wanted Roe v. Wade terminated because it was inappropriate. We got it done. Something is going to happen. It's going to be a number of weeks. Something is going to happen where the both sides are going to be able to come together. And then we'll be able to go onto other things, like, the economy, our military –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you saying a federal ban with exceptions, is that what you're saying?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
What I say is very simple, because you can't put words in my mouth like that –
KRISTEN WELKER:
I just want to understand.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– because you've been hearing me talk about this--
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– issue –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
– and I think talk about it very productively. It could be a state ban, it could be a federal ban, but Democrats want that too. Democrats don't want to see abortion in the seventh month, okay. I speak to a lot of Democrats. They want a number. There is a number, and there’s a number that's going to be agreed to, and Republicans should go out and say the following. They – cause, I think the Republicans speak very inarticulately about this subject. I watch some of them without the exceptions, et cetera, et cetera. I said, "Other than certain parts of the country, you can’t – you're not going to win on this issue. But you will win on this issue when you come up with the right number of weeks.” Because Democrats don't want to be radical on the issue, most of them, some do. They don't want to be radical on the issue. They don't want to kill a baby in the seventh month or the ninth month or after birth. And they're allowed to do that, and you can't do that.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
One important fact we do want to highlight: abortions later in pregnancy are exceedingly rare. When we come back, we turn to foreign policy. the war in Ukraine and whether Mr. Trump would consider sending the U.S. military into Taiwan if China were to invade.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. The Republican party's biggest fight may be on the issue of Ukraine where Republican candidates led by former President Trump are turning away from the party's traditional national security roots and questioning the U.S.’s commitment to the war. I asked Mr. Trump about what he believes are the stakes in Ukraine for the United States.
[START TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you think that our security, the United States' security, is linked to Ukraine's security?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I think that Europe has to do more. We're in for $200 billion. They're in for $25 billion. And it affects them more than it affects us. It certainly affects them much more than it affects us.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you do think that it's linked in some way?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I think Europe is taking advantage of a stupid president.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You've probably –
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Look. Look. Biden should say to them, "You have to equalize. You have to catch up." You know, Europe is about the same size as our economy if you add them all up, add the countries up. It's about the same size. And Biden should say to them, like I did with NATO – you know, NATO, they all owed money. I said, "Get your money in." And we had over $430 billion put in almost immediately. And the head of NATO, Stoltenberg, secretary general, nice guy, he said to me, the most amazing thing I've ever done – and he said it publicly too.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you about your strategy though. Because you have said you want to end this war in 24 hours.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You saw the meeting between Kim Jong Un and President Putin. Do you think that complicates your strategy, if you were re-elected, to try to end this war in 24 hours?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, look, it would have been easier if the war didn't start. And you'd have hundreds of thousands of people living, most importantly. But it would have been a lot easier if it didn't. But I can get it done and I can get it done quickly.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Some people hear you say you're going to end the war in 24 hours and they worry that means President Putin is going to get to keep the territory he's unlawfully claimed.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, no, no, no. I'd make a fair deal for everybody. Nope, I'd make it fair.
KRISTEN WELKER:
It doesn’t mean that? It wouldn’t be a win for Putin?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You know, that's something that could have been negotiated. Because there were certain parts, Crimea and other parts of the country, that a lot of people expected could happen. You could have made a deal. So they could have made a deal where there's lesser territory right now than Russia's already taken, to be honest. And you could have made a deal where nobody was killed. They had a deal. They would have had a Ukraine country. Now nobody even knows if Ukraine is going to be totally taken over. I will say this: something's going on, and it's not good for Ukraine.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to ask you about something President Putin said about you this week. I don't know if you've seen it. This was very recent. President Putin said, quote, "We surely hear that Mr. Trump says he will resolve all burning issues within several days, including the Ukrainian crisis. We cannot help but feel happy about it." What do you make of that? Do you welcome this support?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I like that he said that. Because that means what I'm saying is right. I would get him into a room. I'd get Zelenskyy into a room. Then I'd bring them together. And I'd have a deal worked out. I would get a deal worked out. It would've been a lot easier before it started. Essentially, for four years, I kept them from doing anything. Because you know what? I will tell you this. I never said this. Ukraine was the apple of his eye. I said, "Don't ever do it. Don't ever do it." He would have never done it. But again, oil prices. He wouldn't have done it because of me. But oil prices. The prices were so high that he had so much money. So he had all this money to prosecute the war. The one who drove up the prices was Biden.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Given that President Putin has bombed maternity wards, 20,000 kids kidnapped from Ukraine by Russia. Mass graves.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It's all terrible. It's all terrible.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you welcome his support, his all but endorsement?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Look, I had a very good relationship with him. And yet nobody was tougher on Russia than me. I stopped Nord Stream 2. You never heard of Nord Stream 2. That was the pipeline until I got involved. I said, "Nord Stream 2." People that were sophisticated, military people, and political people never heard of Nord Stream 2. I had it ended. The pipeline was dead. Biden came in and he approved it. There was nobody tougher than me with Russia. And yet I got along with Putin. Let me tell you, I got along with him really well. And that's a good thing, not a bad thing. He's got 1,700 nuclear missiles. And so do we. But, look, that's a good thing. Getting along is okay. But I got along through strength. And the war would have never happened. The war would have never happened. Now what's happened, it's so bad, the oil price is so high, it's hard to get it stopped. The oil price is so high. When he goes above $50 and $60 a barrel, he makes a lot of money on the war. Now, it's a humanitarian thing. It's a lot of different reasons. But I will get that war stopped very, very quickly.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to talk about another region that you've talked about.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It's too bad we have to wait so long.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's talk about another region you talked about: China. If you were to cut a deal between President Putin and President Zelenskyy, do you run the risk of emboldening China to invade Taiwan?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No. Not at all. Because China, he's another one I got along to, until we had the China virus come in. Once Covid came in, okay? It was like – And I made a great trade deal with China, one of the greatest deals ever made for the farmers and for the manufacturers, $50 billion a year. It was a great deal. I don't even talk about it. Because once Covid came in, it was, like, I didn't want to talk about anything. I was a much different person. What happened to this world, not our country, the whole world. What happened with Covid. And it just shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have happened. What happened, what China did to the world was so bad. But I had a great relationship with --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Would you send troops to Taiwan?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I had a great relationship with President Xi, a really great relationship. And he was going to stop fentanyl from coming in. He was going to do a lot – He was going to criminalize it if you made it. You know, in China, they have a death penalty for drug dealers. He was going to make that with fentanyl dealers too. But then the election didn't work out and he never had to do that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I know you've been asked this, but very quickly, if China were to invade Taiwan, have you made a determination, again, since voters are about to go to the polls, would you send the U.S. military into Taiwan if President Xi were to invade? President Biden says he would.
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I won't say. I won't say. Because if I said, I'm giving away – You know, only stupid people are going to give that – I heard the other day, DeSanctimonious said something about he was willing to do this or he was going to do that. I say, "Well, why is he saying the strategy?" You can't say that. So when you ask me that question, I would never say that. Because you give away all your options.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you don't take it off the table?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I don't take anything off the table, no.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And you can see my full, unedited interview with the former president following the broadcast at meetthepress.com. We also talked about the economy, the UAW standoff, the Hunter Biden indictment, and a potential running mate, among many other issues. We do have a fact check available and much more reporting at nbcnews.com. And when we come back, the panel is here with their reactions to my interview with the former president.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. The panel is here. NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent Laura Jarrett, Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, and co-author of The Divider: Trump in the White House, and NBC Managing Washington Editor, Carol Lee. Thank you to all of you for being here for my very first Meet the Press. I am so honored to have all of you. I want to start off just by getting your takeaways of what we just witnessed. And Peter, I want to start with you. What's your big takeaway?
PETER BAKER:
Yeah, I was struck by how defiant he is. Defiant of you, defiant of the system, defiant of facts, right? He's just a bulldozer, shoveling falsehoods and lies throughout your interview, and you're – you’re fact-checking him all along the way. But he is creating a different reality that has been successful for him so far in – in – in – in leading the Republican nomination fight.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah, and energizing his supporters, that's for sure. Carol, what was your big takeaway?
CAROL LEE:
Well, on the legal stuff it – the takeaway is, you know, you can see why former President Trump has gone through a number of lawyers in as he's seen these – these indictments and been investigated. And just politically speaking, big picture, he's very clearly running in a general election. He barely mentions his GOP rivals, and he focuses almost entirely on President Biden.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah, it's a really great point. Laura, what was your takeaway? And we have a lot of legal stuff to pick through, but --
LAURA JARRETT:
There were a lot of legal Easter eggs in there for us to chew on. But I have to say, I thought one of the more fascinating parts of that entire extended interview was what he refused to answer to you. And what he refused to answer is, "What exactly are you doing in the dining room on January 6th?"
KRISTEN WELKER:
Why do you think that is so significant, Laura? Let's start there before we delve into some of the other Easter eggs.
LAURA JARRETT:
Well, I think for his lawyers, they would probably prefer that he didn't answer that. But there was so much that he was willing to go into, which is – for a criminal defense attorney is sort of the nightmare scenario, when you have these four criminal trials, which are a long ways off. There's plenty of time for him to talk and do sit-down interviews like this. And he's essentially boxing himself into positions that he doesn't need to, without really knowing where these cases are going. And so when he tells you, "You know who I listen to? Myself," that's coming when his attorneys are saying, at least previewing lines of defense, that he wants to be able to rely on his lawyers, no matter how misguided their advice was about trying to steal the election. When you say, "I relied on myself," that is fodder for cross-examination.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah, and let's just delve into that a little bit more deeply because there was some wiggle room around the edges. But how significant was that moment, Laura?
LAURA JARRETT:
I think that's a huge moment. And of course he's saying now in a sit-down interview, months from away from any of these trials, he's going to testify. I would be shocked if any attorney was going to endorse that view. But to say – to say so definitively, "I relied on my own instincts," that video is going to be replayed for a jury some way, somehow.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Peter, let me turn to you and bounce off of what Laura is saying. Because yes, he says he is willing to testify. I asked him about one of these charges in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, in which he is alleged to have directed a staffer to delete surveillance footage that shows boxes being moved around. He denies that off the bat, says he's willing to testify. But then tries to pivot to something that he's not accused of, which is deleting the video. But he does say the actual charge is false. What did you make of that?
PETER BAKER:
Yeah. No, it's fascinating. There's a lot of evidence that Jack Smith has already presented in terms of testimony, messages, and so forth on this very question. It was part of a superseding indictment. So he is contradicting, you know, his own staff, people who talked to Jack Smith about it. But you're right, he's trying to say, "Look, they were my tapes, and I could have deleted if I wanted to. And I didn't delete them," as if somehow that gets him off the hook. If you direct somebody to do a crime, as Jack Smith is alleging, it doesn't matter whether they actually follow through on it. You actually committed a crime yourself under Jack Smith's theory.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Carol, you have a lot of reporting from inside the White House, their strategy there. The President is trying to keep his distance from these indictments, and yet some of his allies say at some point he's going to have to shift his strategy. How do you think the White House Democrats are processing all of this?
CAROL LEE:
Well, what Democrats have told us over the course of the last several weeks and months is that as these indictments pile up, and the President has made a very concerted decision that he's not going to weigh in publicly on them, and that they're going to keep this distance there, the question that Democrats raise is whether or not voters are seeing that difference, they're seeing that distinction. And former President Trump is trying to make clear and make sure that they basically think that these are Biden indictments. And President Biden doesn't want to weigh in. And the concern is that that's a real gamble, that politically, if the President is not challenging this and saying that his Justice Department is independent, and out there really talking about it, then that cedes that ground to Trump, and allows him to change voters' minds.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Peter, weigh in on this point. I mean, how risky is the strategy of keeping hands off and saying, "Hey, I'm going to stay focused on my campaign and my agenda, and not talk about these indictments?"
PETER BAKER:
I think it's frustrating for Democrats. Liberals and progressives are upset that he's not weighing in. But Carol's right, there's nothing but danger ahead if he engages on that. Because he looks like he's doing exactly what Trump is saying. Trump says to you over and over again, "They're Biden indictments." There's no Biden indictments here. There's no evidence that he has anything to do with this other than having appointed an attorney general, which is what a president does. But he would feed into that by looking like he was going after him, and giving Trump the ammunition he wants.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Laura, it was notable that the former president took aim at Jack Smith, special prosecutor who's charged him. And then I believe –
LAURA JARRETT:
Called him a lunatic.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Called him a lunatic, which we've heard him say before. And then a day later, Judge Chutkan issued a request for a narrow gag order. So within that context, it doesn't seem like he's changing his rhetoric at all. I mean, talk about the significance of that issue and his ongoing attacks against the prosecutors.
LAURA JARRETT:
So he's not changing his rhetoric at all. But I can tell you, prosecutors are zeroing on interviews like this one, mining them for things like that. Because they're trying to say, "Look, not only is there a security risk for the witnesses and the prosecutors, the judge herself who has received threats." But they're saying it has the ability to taint the ability to have a fair trial. And so that's why they're asking the judge for a narrow gag order that would not stop him from talking at all. You couldn't do that. But what they do want is for the judge to say, "You cannot talk about the witnesses or make threats against anyone during the course of this trial." We'll see what she does. I think she's probably unlikely to do that in the first instance. But she may haul him in and scold him again. We've already seen her do it once, and she may do it again.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah, it just adds to the potential risk of the legal peril swirling around him. Speaking of that, Peter Baker, another revelation here. We had reporting around this, but he acknowledges for the first time, yes, there were conversations about him potentially pardoning himself –
PETER BAKER:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– in his final days in office. It's not clear if he has the authority to do that, –
PETER BAKER:
Right.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– so that would be untested. But what did you make of that revelation?
PETER BAKER:
Well, it's fascinating, right, because it shows that they understand that he, in fact, was in criminal exposure, that he had exposed himself criminally, potentially, and that there might be need for a pardon. You don't talk about pardoning himself if you haven't done anything. And they understood in those final crazy days in the White House, when things were very volatile, very tempestuous, and he'd just been impeached for the second time, and it's suggests, of course, an understanding of just how exposed he was.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And I do want to talk about the other legal issue we've been tracking throughout this week. Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges. Carol, and you had some new exclusive reporting out of the White House on that.
CAROL LEE:
That's right, Kristen. What people close to the President have been telling us over the last several weeks is that, you know, this is a very sensitive issue. Obviously it's a family issue. Very few people have talked to the President about his son. Only a couple of aides, and only when they have to. Now, politically speaking, what people close to the President say is they're not worried that people – voters are going to look at this and say, "Oh, Hunter Biden was indicted. I'm not going to vote for President Biden." What they are worried about is the emotional toll that this takes on the President and how that plays out politically. Meaning he's distracted, it's weighing on him heavily. And that creates a scenario in which the President is more prone to misstep and mistakes, the type that he cannot afford to make. Because Republicans will seize on them, because voters are evaluating whether or not the president, given that he's 80 years old, is competent to serve another term. And so it's very fraught, it's very sensitive, and there are a lot of concerns.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, and one of the other issues looming over all of this is something that I talked to the former President about, the issue of abortion. And Laura, before we get to the politics of it, legally, as I raised with him, there are a number of cases that are being brought throughout the country, women and doctors, saying that their lives are being put at risk now that Roe is overturned. Just set the legal landscape for us.
LAURA JARRETT:
Right. So I think the former President's most enduring legacy, perhaps at least one of them will be putting three Supreme Court Justices on the nation's highest court, that struck down Roe. And there's a piece of him that seems to take pride in that, and to use that to trumpet his position. But there's another piece of him that seems to realize sort of the peril of that position and kicking it back to states. As he said, he sort of couched it as everybody was okay with that. Everybody was not okay with that, because the natural output of that means that states can put in place highly restrictive rules, which result in people even having medical issues and still not being able to obtain an abortion.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And politically speaking, this is such a complex and complicated issue. And Carol Lee, another complex and complicated issue that we're going to be watching obviously, foreign policy. And you heard the President there not say that Ukraine's security is linked to the U.S. He declined to say that, and he didn't say if he would send troops into Taiwan if China were to invade. And I know you also have a little bit of reporting on that as well this morning.
CAROL LEE:
Right. And first I just wanna fact-check a couple things that the President said on Ukraine. It's not true, the U.S. sends much more than the president – much less than the former President said, and Europe spends much more than the President said. And on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is a pipe – natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, that was already largely completed by the time President Biden took office. The decision on whether or not that goes forward is Germany's, obviously. So there's that –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Good fact check.
CAROL LEE:
And on China, what we've learned this morning is that President Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan has been secretly meeting over the weekend in Malta, a third party European country, with the Chinese foreign minister. And that's significant because this is seen as a precursor to a meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this fall.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Fantastic new reporting there. Big picture, Peter Baker. I'm giving the final word to you. We have gotten criticism for just sitting down with former President Trump. He is the former president, he's facing four indictments. As journalists, just set this scene, the backdrop why there is still news value, and value for the public to hear from him.
PETER BAKER:
Well, this is a huge challenge for American journalism, of course, right? It cannot be that a person can run for president of the United States, be a front-runner of his party, and possibly win without ever being challenged by a tough, independent interview. And that's, I think, an important part of our system. Now, it's obviously a challenge for us because he is just going to spout out one thing after another, and fact-checking him in real time is a real hard thing. But what we've done here is edit it and make sure people understand he’s – what's real and what's not.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I cannot thank you all enough for being here, Laura, Peter, and Carol. Thank you. And when we come back, a look back at what the first moderator of Meet the Press said about the value of this show.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Before we go, I want to take a moment to thank you, our viewers. It is an incredible honor to be sitting in this chair, and I feel the huge responsibility it carries. I also want to recognize all of the women, all of the people of color who’ve been pathfinders to make this moment possible as well as all of the journalists who have mentored me along the way. When my colleague Andrea Mitchell applied for her first job at a news radio station in Philadelphia in 1967, she was told the newsroom was no place for a woman. Well, she talked them into hiring her for the overnight shift. I'm here because she and other fearless women never stopped fighting for their places in the newsroom. And now, all five Sunday shows are moderated or co-moderated by women. So to Martha, Margaret, Dana, and Shannon – I am incredibly honored to join you on Sunday mornings. I also stand on the shoulders of the first moderator and co-founder of this broadcast, Martha Rountree, who had the courage to launch this program back in 1947. Here's what she had to say accepting a peabody award, on the mission of "Meet the Press."
[START TAPE]
MARTHA ROUNTREE:
As long as the press of America is free, America will be free. And what we have tried to do is to bring the press conference, the heart of our free press, to the whole nation. Let us never forget that information belongs to the American people. And it is that information which Meet the Press has been trying to bring each week in the homes of the American people. An informed public means a strong republic and Meet the Press is dedicated to that cause.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Truer words have never been spoken. That is all for today. Thank you for watching. We'll be back next week. Because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
