President Trump Walks Out of Combative NBC Interview with Kirsten Welker

Trump tells Axios he will ask Netanyahu not to strike back at Iran

President Trump will call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and press him not to retaliate for Iran's missile attack, Trump tells Axios."I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate. Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike, and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one," Trump said.Why it matters: The ceasefire in the Middle East is teetering after Israel struck Beirut and Iran fired multiple waves of missiles in response.Trump is racing to stop the escalations from killing his hopes at a lasting deal with Iran. Netanyahu's answer will measure how much sway the American president still holds over Israel.Driving the news: Iran fired missiles at Israel on Sunday in retaliation for the Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs. It's Iran's first direct attack since the April 8 ceasefire.Israel says it has intercepted the missiles.What he's saying: Trump played down the Iranian strikes."The Iranian strikes didn't hurt anybody," Trump tells Axios. "Hopefully Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back, it's just gonna keep going like the last 47 years — or the last 3,000 years."Trump added: "We are very close to a final deal with Iran. It is going to be a good deal. I don't want it to blow up because of what is happening now."Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

President Trump Meet the Press Interview – Full Video and Transcript

Here’s the full interview between President Trump and NBC’s Kirsten Welker. The video and transcript: [Transcript] – KIRSTEN WELKER:President Trump, welcome back to Meet the Press. PRES. DONALD TRUMP: Thank you. KRISTEN WELKER: Thank you so much for being here. We are going to talk about your visit, why you’re here in Wisconsin. But I’d […] The post President Trump Meet the Press Interview – Full Video and Transcript appeared first on The Last Refuge.

Watch: Trump Drops Kristen Welker in Fiery Interview, Ends With Him Walking Out

Lawmaker pushes panic button on 'really stupid' Trump move that is 'not getting attention'

The Trump administration is dismantling a $368 million deep-ocean monitoring network at the precise moment scientists say the world's oceans are behaving in alarming ways — and a Democratic congressman says the timing is not a coincidence.Rep. Mike Levin, a California Democrat and environmental attorney who represents San Diego's North County coast, posted a scathing response Saturday to CNN's reporting on the decision, arguing the move serves a hidden agenda."The same people killing the monitors want to mine the deep sea for minerals," Levin wrote. "So they are destroying the only tools that could measure what that mining does. That is not an accident. That is the point. You cannot see the damage if you break the instruments first."The system being dismantled is the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a network of more than 900 instruments positioned throughout the world's oceans that launched in 2016 with an expected 25-year lifespan. It provides continuous real-time data on ocean temperatures, carbon absorption, circulation patterns, and coastal flooding risks. The Trump administration's fiscal 2026 budget cut its funding by 80 percent, and removal of the anchored instruments began this month from sites off Oregon, North Carolina, and the Irminger Sea near Greenland.Scientists say the timing could not be worse. Ocean temperatures are breaking records. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — the system of currents that regulates climate across the Northern Hemisphere — is showing signs of potential collapse, a scenario researchers warn could bring severe winters to Europe and accelerating sea level rise on the U.S. East Coast.The administration described the decision as a "nimbler approach" and "smart lifecycle management." Levin was unimpressed. "That is fancy nonsense for 'we shut it off and hoped nobody would ask why,'" he wrote. "There is no return-on-investment analysis. They cannot show taxpayers save a dime, because the gear is already paid for and the science it produces protects real money and real lives."His bottom line: "That is not budgeting. That is smashing the gauges while the engine is on fire and calling it efficiency."

‘Let’s call it quits’: Watch Trump storm out of interview after exploding on network anchor, calling her ‘crooked’ and ‘stupid’ to her face

Journalist whines and begs: 'Mr. President, let's, please, I traveled all the way to Wisconsin!'

5 key moments from Trump's cut-short "Meet the Press" interview

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.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" interview1. Jan. 6 payoutsTrump 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 lineTrump 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 pledgePressed 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 KhameneiTrump 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 costsWhen 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.

Trump defends ‘anti-weaponization’ fund: ‘Great idea’

President Trump on Friday defended his administration’s short-lived “anti-weaponization” fund, days after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was not moving ahead with it.  “So me, personally, I think the weaponization fund is a great idea, and so do many other Republicans,” Trump told host Kristen Welker on NBC’s…

Trump Storms Out of ‘Meet the Press’ Interview