Donald Trump exits after tense ‘Meet the Press’ interview
President Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” after Kristen Welker challenged baseless election claims.
WASHINGTON — On the night he won re-election in 2024, Donald Trump reminded his supporters that he never started a war in his first term and promised not to start one in the next four years.
“They said, ‘He’s going to start a war.’ I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop a war,” Trump said in his victory speech on Nov. 6, 2024, reciting a line he used frequently during his campaign.
But now, as the United States continues its months-long conflict with Iran, President Trump has contradicted his pledge, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker in a controversial interview aired on June 7, “I didn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be war. Why did I build the most powerful military in the world?”
President Trump added that military action against Iran is necessary to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons. “I have to be good to this country, to this world, to the Middle East, to Israel, to everyone. There’s also Iran. They’re going to have nuclear weapons,” Trump said.
The president also sought to distinguish between the U.S. actions he ordered in Iran (he said he was not considering war) and the country’s so-called “endless wars,” citing past U.S. wars in places like Vietnam and Iraq.
Trump told Welker: “They say I promised them, but I haven’t promised anything.” “I don’t like endless wars like this. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”
During his campaign, Trump said, “There will be no more wars under the Trump administration.”
Trump frequently campaigned against “endless wars” during the 2024 campaign against former President Joe Biden and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, but he also vowed not to start “wars” in general without specifying the type. In contrast, Democratic opponents characterized it as trying to start a new war.
“They love wars. They love wars of love. You know, they love killing people. That’s pretty cool,” President Trump said at a campaign rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, 2024. “You know, I’m the only president in decades who hasn’t started a war.”
In a post on Truth Social on June 29, 2024, Trump described the election as a contest between “strength and weakness, competence and incompetence, peace and prosperity, war and no war.”
In his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024, President Trump declared, “Victory in November will end years of war, weakness, and chaos.”
“I kept you out of war. With Donald Trump as president, we didn’t go to war,” Trump said at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 24, 2024, a week after his convention. A few days later, at a July 27 rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, President Trump said, “Remember that crooked Hillary Clinton said, ‘He’s trying to get us into a war.’ Look at him. Look at his rhetoric.” I said, “No, my rhetoric will keep us out of war.”
President Trump later said in an Aug. 17 speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, “Under a Trump administration, there will be no more war and chaos, and there will be prosperity and peace for all.”
President Trump says there is a ‘red line that must not be crossed’ in restarting attacks on Iran
Mr. Trump’s denial of the war pledge came during a combative interview in which Mr. Welker abruptly ended the conversation when he challenged Mr. Welker about baseless claims that California’s primary election was fraudulent.
President Trump has said he would resume attacks on Iran if he did not think progress was being made in the negotiations, but said he was satisfied with the negotiations.
Asked what would cause a resumption of military action, Trump said: “My criteria is if we don’t think we’re going to get a deal or if we’re not going to get a deal fast enough.” “We are in very good negotiations with the people who are leading this country right now.”
President Trump has repeatedly said his administration is close to a peace deal with Iran, but not yet. Americans have expressed concern about soaring gasoline prices due to the conflict, and prolonging the war poses a political risk to Mr. Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Israel and Iran resumed attacks on June 8, the first time the two countries have exchanged attacks since April, potentially complicating the path to a deal. Iran later announced that it would cease military operations.
In a phone interview with Fox News on June 7, President Trump criticized Israel’s recent attack on Beirut, saying he was “not satisfied.” President Trump urged Iran to “come back to the table and make a deal,” adding that the attack “certainly does not help negotiations.”
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
