On June 7, 2026, Donald Trump was interviewed by Kristin Welker on the NBC News program "Meet the Press."
Watch the entire, nearly 40-minute interview here.
At the end of the interview, the subject of the 2020 presidential election and the June 2, 2026 California primary election (the results of which are still being determined) was discussed.
Here's a transcript of that part of the interview (timestamp: 37:00) provided by NBC News (bold added for emphasis):
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
The election [2020 presidential election] was rigged. It was a dirty election.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And it's happening again right now in California.
KRISTEN WELKER:
— you've never presented evidence –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It's happening right now in California
KRISTEN WELKER:
– that the 2020 election was rigged.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Right now, it's look at what's happening in California.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Where's the evidence to that?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It's four days –
KRISTEN WELKER:
The Republicans are doing well in California.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
In California, it's, no they're not. They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you, it's four days and they aren't even close to coming up with the –
KRISTEN WELKER:
That's how they count the votes in California.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Do you know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election.
KRISTEN WELKER:
There's — What? Do you have evidence to support that?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It's-- all I have to do is look. All I have to do is look.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But that's not evidence.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And I listen. And I listen to people. And let's see what happens.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But sir, that's not evidence, and that's how they count the votes in California--
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Do you think it's appropriate that they have an election and five days later, they're nowhere close to picking a winner?
KRISTEN WELKER:
State and local officials acknowledge they are slow. They're urging--
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, they're crooked.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– they're urging the votes to be counted quickly. That's how they vote in California.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
They're crooked just like you're crooked, your press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked.
KRISTEN WELKER:
To be fair, I'm not crooked. But let's continue.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Really? Well, you play right into their hands then.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's continue.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You're either crooked or you're stupid.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's continue.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You play right into their hands with this stuff. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they're rigged. Do you know that I won an election in a landslide and I got 94% bad press.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Mr. President –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You know why I got that?
KRISTEN WELKER:
– you've never presented –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Because you have no credibility.
KRISTEN WELKER:
-evidence. But you've never presented evidence it was rigged. Let's keep talking about, I want to talk about Todd Blanche.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You have more evidence, there's more evidence than ever presented.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's talk about--
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Your elections in this country –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– you went to court.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
We're like a third world country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But sir –
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
Your elections are crooked and you're crooked, and Meet the Press is crooked.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Mr. President–
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And so is ABC and CBS and CNN.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But Mr. President--
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
You're a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President, let's — please, I traveled all the way to Wisconsin.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I've sat in the rain with you--
KRISTEN WELKER:
I traveled all — I know. I traveled all the way--
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I sat in the rain with you for an hour.
KRISTEN WELKER:
--to Wisconsin.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
On and off in the rain, and I've given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press, because you know what?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Mr. President--
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
A country can never be great with a dishonest press.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– we traveled all — listen. We traveled all the way to Wisconsin for this interview.
Source:
(June 7, 2026). "Read the transcript: President Donald Trump interviewed by NBC News' 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker". NBC News. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
Commentary:
I highly suggest you watch this part of the interview so you can get the full emotional impact of how heated this exchange between Trump and Welker was. Welker should receive some kind of award for being persistent, standing her ground with Trump, and not allowing him to simply dismiss her pointed questions!
Of course, when challenged Trump reverts to his "tried and true" tactic of turning on whoever he's speaking with, in this case Kristen Welker. He just can't call it quits at a heated disagreement about something and then move on. No, instead, he always expands his bogus narratives to attack specific reporters and the press in general. His fallback, regardless of what topic is being discussed, is often a regurgitation of his never-ending completely bogus narrative that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" and "stolen."
Trump does this because when challenged and threatened, his over-active ego takes full control of what comes out of his mouth. His ego - massive and yet so fragile - simply can't handle the truth, so it works overtime on adrenaline to make his case repeatedly, over and over again, almost as if it's trying to convince itself (and Trump, who owns it) that what Trump believes and what he says is true.
Of course, what Trump believes and what he says is more often than not just a bunch of gross exaggerations, half-truths, and outright lies.
In a recent June 5, 2026 HWR post entitled "Donald Trump Says 'They're Rigging the Election' in California" I noted that Trump's claims about California are just another bogus narrative which are laying the groundwork for claims he will most likely make in November. Having his bogus narratives presented on a major network broadcast, to Trump is just another way for him to repeat and further "spin" his B.S.
Trump ends the interview by saying "A country can never be great with a dishonest press."
It's safe to say that we all want an honest press, but to Trump an "honest" press is a press that never challenges him. It's a press that confirms all of his bogus narratives, regardless of how ridiculous and objectively false they are. I think it's safe to say that most reasonable, rational people don't want a press like that.
If Trump truly believed his statement, then why does he rarely say anything bad about Fox News, in particular the weekday evening pundits (like Sean Hannity, Jessie Watters, Laura Ingraham, and others) who spew out bogus, right-wing narratives five nights a week?
Like all democracies, America needs an honest press, but more importantly America needs a free press which has the ability to speak freely, without government censorship.
Trump, and his sycophants like Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, are "hell-bent" on silencing anti-Trump media.
Did you know that the Trump White House has a "Media Offenders" website?
Did you know that a subsection of that website targets "Leftist Influencers" like Brian Tyler Cohen?
Read more about this in an article entitled "White House Targets 'Leftist Influencers' on Official Trump Admin Website."
Looking back, can you think of any other presidential administration that has ever invested time and energy into something like this?
This should tell you all you need to know about where Trump and his sycophants stand with regard to freedom of the press.