Trump walks out of NBC interview after election fraud questions

Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NBC's Meet the Press after being questioned about his false claims of election fraud. The exchange was filmed on a farm in Wisconsin on Friday local time and later aired on Sunday local time. It was interrupted several times by weather and audio problems as torrential rain hit the roof.

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During the interview, Trump called the network "crooked" and told host Kristen Welker she was "either crooked or you're stupid" before leaving. He also said, "Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough.

Thank you, darling. Have a good time," before standing up and walking out. The row escalated after questions about his plans to fund victims of what he described as government "weaponisation".

The interview also turned to Iran, nuclear weapons and Trump's campaign pledge to keep the United States out of foreign wars. Trump said, "First of all, I didn't guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?" He added that he did not like "endless wars" and said, "This is not an endless war.

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We've been doing this for three months." The discussion then moved to his proposed taxpayer-funded program to compensate people he believes were victims of partisan prosecution under Joe Biden. Welker said there was no evidence for Trump's claims, but he repeated his earlier assertions that the 2020 election was "rigged" and said last week's primary in California was also rigged. The exchange is significant because it again placed Trump's election-fraud claims at the centre of a high-profile televised interview.

It also highlighted the continuing tension between Trump and major US broadcasters over how his statements are challenged on air. The interview comes against the backdrop of Trump's long-running effort to frame his legal and political disputes as examples of government "weaponisation". The row over a possible compensation fund for alleged victims of partisan prosecution has already drawn scrutiny, with the acting attorney-general said to have abandoned plans for a $2.51 billion "anti-weaponization" fund.

That gives the interview wider relevance beyond a single on-air confrontation, because it touches on how the administration is handling claims of political bias and public money. What remains unclear is whether the walkout will have any immediate political or legal consequences, or whether it will affect future interviews with the president. It is also not clear how the administration will proceed on the proposed compensation plan, or whether Trump will continue to press his election-fraud claims in the same way.

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