5 key moments from Trump's cut-short "Meet the Press" interview
· Axios
President Trump abruptly ended a wide-ranging "Meet the Press" interview Sunday after defending potential payouts for people prosecuted over Jan. 6 and warning slow Iran talks could restart U.S. military action.
Visit bettingx.bond for more information.
Why it matters: The NBC interview captured two fights likely to follow Trump this week: the scope of his Iran operation, and whether taxpayer money should go to people he casts as victims of political prosecutions.
- Trump's conversation with Kristen Welker put the president on the record defending the idea of Jan. 6 payouts, even after his administration said it had dropped plans for the nearly $1.8 billion fund.
5 key moments from Trump's "Meet the Press" interview
1. Jan. 6 payouts
- Trump said many people prosecuted over Jan. 6 "should be compensated" on a case-by-case basis.
- The proposed nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund grew from Trump's IRS settlement over the leak of his tax returns. The fund faced almost immediate bipartisan pushback.
- Trump first told NBC he wasn't "inclined" to support payments to anyone who attacked police officers — then he railed against those officers: "You had a lot of crooked cops. You had dirty cops. Comey was a dirty cop."
- He continued, "I don't know what's going to happen with the weaponization fund. I love the idea."
2. Iran red line
- Trump said his red line for renewed strikes would be if he thought a deal was not happening "fast enough."
- The answer sharpened a threat hanging over talks after U.S.–Iran clashes have popped up.
- The White House is trying to reach a memorandum of understanding with Iran to end the war and begin in-depth nuclear negotiations.
- Trump said U.S. forces could help remove and destroy highly enriched uranium under a deal. Without one, he said, "we're going to take them out militarily very harshly."
3. No to no-new-wars pledge
- Pressed on his campaign pledge to not start new wars, Trump said he "didn't promise anything" and argued the Iran operation was not an "endless war."
- "It costs us very little to keep" 50,000 U.S. troops in place, he said. "I think we'll keep them there until such time as we have a completion."
- Trump argued the Iran operation is different from wars in Vietnam and Iraq because this conflict has only lasted months, not years.
4. Praise for Khamenei
- Trump praised Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's "certain bravery" for staying involved in talks while seriously injured.
- Khamenei is "part of the approval process" for a deal, Trump confirmed. He called the younger Khamenei "more rational" than his father, though Trump and the ayatollah have not spoken directly.
- Trump also said he was not demanding that Lebanon be part of a short-term Iran deal, though he said he wants a "more surgical attack on Hezbollah."
5. Farmers and costs
- When Welker cited farmers' struggles with fertilizer costs, Trump rejected the premise: "The farmers are doing very well."
- He insisted farmers trust him and would understand higher gasoline and fertilizer prices because he is trying to end Iran's nuclear program.
- Farmers are under pressure from Trump's trade war, a drought and higher energy and fertilizer costs.
The intrigue: Trump called NBC a "one-sided crooked network" before ending the interview when Welker pressed him for evidence supporting his election fraud claims.