President Donald Trump said he was “not happy” with NBC News after he abruptly ended a lengthy interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, filmed during his rainy trip to Wisconsin.
At the end of a sit-down interview with Trump that lasted about 50 minutes, Welker pushed back on Trump’s unsupported claims of “rigged” primary elections in California.
After a back-and-forth, Trump called NBC a “one-sided, crooked network.”
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” Trump said.
Welker attempted to keep the interview going, noting she “traveled all the way to Wisconsin.”
“I sat in the rain with you for an hour,” Trump said. “On and off in the rain, and I’ve given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press.”
Trump took off his microphone, dropped it on the floor and walked out of the interview area, patting Welker on the shoulder.
At one point during the interview, Welker suggested taking a five-minute break because the rain was coming down so loudly. The interview paused again because of an audio issue, Welker explained when the interview aired Sunday, June 7.
“Let’s just keep going,” Trump said at one point. “Let’s power through it.”
In a separate June 7 post on X, Welker said her interview with Trump was “unfortunately complicated by weather issues.”
“In spite of those challenges, we still had a substantial conversation on issues from the Iran war to the economy to the so-called ‘anti-weaponization’ fund,” Welker said.
Welker, on the June 7 broadcast, said she spoke with Trump the following day and they both agreed the rain caused complications. Welker said Trump agreed to sit down for another interview with “Meet the Press.”
NBC News also posted an article fact-checking claims Trump raised in the interview, from the Iran war to gas prices and California elections.
Trump addressed the NBC interview in opening remarks to the crowd
At the start of his June 5 event in Chippewa Falls, Trump addressed the interview and admitted he “got a little bit angry.”
“I just did an interview in the most beautiful barn I’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “But it was raining and it was with NBC fake news. And because it was raining, I got a little bit angry at them.”
“I was not happy with them, but we had a good time,” Trump said.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage of the event noted rain was pouring loudly on the barn roof that housed the Trump event, billed as a roundtable conversation about issues facing farmers. Attendees who were unable to get tickets waited outside in muddy conditions.
Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump admits he was angry when ending rainy NBC interview in Wisconsin
Reporting by Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
