Dem
47
GOP
53
NBC's Kristen Welker got a choice interview with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week. They covered a wide range of topics and aired yesterday. If you want to watch the whole thing (74 minutes), here it is:
The item that has gotten the most attention is the one in which Welker asked Trump if he would uphold the Constitution. He said: "I don't know." Perhaps he has forgotten that on Jan. 20, 2025, he took an oath in which he promised to do that very thing. Or maybe he was just kidding then. Another issue Welker was concerned about is how Trump's tariffs will affect small businesses. Trump said: "Many businesses are being helped" and there is no need for relief. Small businesses that sell items from China and have suddenly had their prices more than double might not agree.
For the most part, Trump blamed Joe Biden or said whatever problem Welker brought up was not a big deal. When she asked about his deporting people without the due process guaranteed by the Constitution, he pointed out that he had declared a state of emergency, somehow implying that an emergency overrides the Constitution.
On the economy, he said that the tariffs will reduce the trade deficit with China. His actual answer was telling: "We don't have to waste money on a trade deficit with China for things we don't need, for junk that we don't need." This reinforces our view that his vision of China was frozen around 1970, when China made cheap T-shirts and other junk. He is apparently unaware that Chinese manufacturing is now among the best in the world and many Chinese products are better than American products, and much cheaper. He is also apparently unaware that the supply chain for many advanced American products runs through China. Modern cars have 1,000-3,000 computer chips in them, most of them very simple and cheap—and most of them come from China because no American company can make them for a few cents each. When Welker pressed Trump about a recession, he brushed it off, saying that maybe kids would get three dolls for Christmas instead of 30, and the economy would soon be the best one ever.
In foreign affairs, he didn't rule out taking Greenland by force, but seemed to rule out conquering Canada by force. He did admit that he didn't end the war in Ukraine on Day 1, but said a deal might be fairly close. Related to that, when she asked him about holding a giant (and expensive) military parade on his birthday when his administration is trying to ferret out waste, he said it would be well worth the $45 million it would cost.
He also discussed the Big Beautiful Reconciliation Bill Congress is working on. He actually made news there, saying that if it cuts Medicaid, he would veto it. The Budget resolution that passed Congress calls for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, and some members of the House won't vote for the bill if the cuts are rescinded. It could get interesting. Maybe he will later say: "Well, what they cut out was waste, so it is fine."
Surprisingly, Trump said he said he would serve two terms and not run for a third term. He said his earlier remarks
were intended to troll the fake news media. It certainly worked, with dozens, maybe hundreds, of stories about the
Twenty-Second Amendment and various workarounds, like getting elected on a Vance/Trump ticket and having Vance resign
as soon as he was inaugurated. Trump's company is selling "Trump 2028" hats, but that could just be to get the
rubes his people to cough up $50.
One interesting aspect of the interview is that in part of it Trump and Welker were sitting on chairs facing each other, but for part of it they were standing, with Trump towering over the tiny 5'2" Welker, in an attempt to dominate her. (V)