President Donald Trump reproached NBC’s Kristen Welker multiple times over the way she framed questions during an interview marking the first 100 days of his second term.

Welker faced blowback from Trump when the “Meet The Press” moderator pressed him about the trade war with China.

“Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Trump said as Welker contended that prices were already going up on goods ranging from tires to strollers.

“This is such a dishonest interview already,” Trump said before he asserted that prices are down for groceries and energy as well as mortgage rates.

Another exchange centered on small businesses.

“Small businesses say they are being hurt by the Chinese tariffs and some could be forced to shut down …” Welker said.

“And many businesses are being helped!” Trump interjected.

They both spoke over each other for a few moments before Trump called out Welker.

“Why do you always mention — you know — you pick [out] a couple of little businesses. What about the car business? They’re going to make a fortune because of the tariffs,” Trump said.

Trump discussed how United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain was “no fan” of his, but has come around and voiced support for the auto tariffs.

“So why don’t you mention the big car industry instead of mentioning somebody that’s doing strollers?” Trump said.

“Well, I’m just asking you about small businesses. Are there any discussions about giving any relief to small businesses?” Welker said.

“They’re not going to need it,” Trump replied. “They’re going to make so much money if you build your product here. Remember: there are no tariffs if you build your product here. It’s very easy. It’s very simple.”

Trump also confronted Welker when the journalist asked about authoritarianism.

“Let me ask you — big picture. People who have lived in countries like the Philippines, Hungary, Russia, they look at some of your actions — going after civil service, going after universities, law firms, the media — they say it’s out of an authoritarian playbook. What do you say to those who believe you are taking the country down an authoritarian path?” Welker asked.

“Well, there you go again,” Trump said. “Why don’t you ask it a different way? Many people want to come into our country. Many people love Trump. I won the election. They didn’t win the election. I got a lot more votes than they did. I won the popular vote. I won all seven swing states by a lot. A lot of people were surprised. They said, ‘I think he could win four, maybe five.’ No, I won all seven, and I won by a lot. And I won. Actually, I think there was a lot of hanky panky going on but it was too big to rig. That’s the good news. It’s too big to rig. But let me just say, so when you make these statements about, ‘People say this –,’ well, they had their chance at the election and they lost big. So you should ask the question differently.”

Before Welker could pose another question, Trump kept going.

“You should say, ‘What about the people that want to be in this country? What about the people that love this country?’” he said.

“Okay. But what do you say to — I’m asking it on behalf of those people to give you a chance to respond to them. What do you say to those people, sir?” Welker asked.

“Those people are going to be very happy,” Trump replied. “They’re going to have to see some results. And I think we had a great 100 days. There are a lot of people that say it was unprecedented. It was an absolutely unprecedented 100 days. And I hope that they’re going to be right.”



Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account