KRISTEN WELKER:
This Sunday: return to office. My exclusive interview with President-elect Donald Trump. His plans for the economy, and his promises for mass deportation.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is it your plan to deport everyone who is here illegally over the next four years?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I think you have to do it
KRISTEN WELKER:
And will he seek retribution against his political enemies?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you going to go after Joe Biden?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'm really looking to make our country successful. I'm not looking to go back into the past. Retribution will be through success.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Plus, his vow to pardon those convicted of attacking the Capitol on January 6th.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'm going to be acting very quickly.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Within your first 100 days, first day?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
First day.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And now that he’s won the 2024 election, has he changed his mind about his 2020 loss?
KRISTEN WELKER:
For the sake of unifying this country, will you concede the 2020 election and turn the page on that chapter?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Joining me for insight and analysis are: NBC News Managing Washington Editor Carol Lee, Politico “Playbook” Co-author Eugene Daniels, Marc Short, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Welcome to Sunday, and a special edition of Meet the Press.
ANNOUNCER:
From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is a special edition of Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Good Sunday morning. President-elect Donald Trump is the first president to win non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland and we haven't heard from him extensively since his decisive victory until now. I sat down with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York on Friday for his first broadcast interview since winning the election. We spoke for nearly an hour and a half in a wide-ranging conversation about what these next four years will look like. He told me his first 100 days will focus on bringing down prices, addressing the border and getting his cabinet picks confirmed. And I asked him what he'll do on his first day in office.
[BEGIN TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
I understand that on day one you're going to be signing a flurry of executive orders.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yes. A lot.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Can you give me just-- what are the top ones people should know about?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, a lot of it will have to do with economics. A lot's going to have to do with energy. A lot's having to do with the border. We're going to immediately strengthen up the border and do a real job. And some of the basics.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
I began the interview with one of the top issues for voters: the economy and the cost of living.
[BEGIN TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to delve into one of your signature promises on the campaign trail, which was to end inflation, to lower prices. You are now proposing tariffs against the United States' three biggest trading partners. Economists of all stripes say that ultimately consumers pay the price of tariffs.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I don't believe that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Can you guarantee American families won't pay more?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow. But I can say that if you look at my – just pre-Covid, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And I had a lot of tariffs on a lot of different countries, but in particular China. We took in hundreds of billions of dollars and we had no inflation. In fact, when I handed it over, they didn't have inflation for a year and a half. They went almost two years just based on what I had created. And then they created inflation with energy and with spending too much. So I think we will – I'm a big believer in tariffs. I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they're beautiful. It's going to make us rich. We're subsidizing Canada to the tune over $100 billion a year. We're subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion. We shouldn’t be – why are we subsidizing these countries? If we're going to subsidize them, let them become a state. We're subsidizing Mexico and we're subsidizing Canada and we're subsidizing many countries all over the world. And all I want to do is I want to have a level, fast, but fair playing field.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Sir, your previous tariffs during your first administration cost Americans some $80 billion, and now you have major companies from Walmart, Black & Decker, AutoZone, saying that any tariffs are going to force them to drive up prices for their consumers. How do you make sure that these CEOs, that these companies don't, in fact, pass on the cost of tariffs to their consumers?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
They cost Americans nothing. They made a great economy for us. They also solve another problem. If we were going to have problems having to do with wars and having to do with other things, tariffs – I have stopped wars with tariffs by saying, "You guys want to fight, it's great. But both of you are going to pay tariffs to the United States at 100%." And – they have many purposes, tariffs, if properly used. I don't say you use them like a madman. I say properly used. But it didn't cost this country anything. It made this country money. And we never really got the chance to go all out because we had to fight Covid in the last part, and we did it very successfully. And when I handed it over to Biden, the stock market was higher than what it was just previous to Covid coming in. It was actually higher. Tariffs are a – properly used, are a very powerful tool, not only economically, but also for getting other things outside of economics.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you actually going to impose these tariffs or are they a negotiating tactic?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I'll give you an example. With Canada, and in particular Mexico, we have millions of people pouring into our country. You agree with that. I spoke with the – both – I spoke with Justin Trudeau. In fact, he flew to Mar-a-Lago, within about 15 seconds after the call ended. It was at Mar-a-Lago, we were having dinner, talking about it. I said, "You have to close up your borders," because they're coming in the northern border too, a lot. Not like the southern border, but they're coming in the Canadian border a lot. And drugs are pouring in. Almost as importantly, drugs are pouring in. Maybe more importantly. Drugs are pouring in at levels never seen before, 10 times what we had. They're just pouring in. We can't have open borders. And I said to the president of Mexico and to Justin Trudeau, "If it doesn't stop, I'm going to put tariffs on your country at about 25%.
KRISTEN WELKER:
The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said he will not leave his post even if you ask him to. Will you try to replace Jerome Powell?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, I don't think so. I don't see it. But, I don’t – I think if I told him to, he would. But if I asked him to, he probably wouldn't. But if I told him to, he would.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You don't have plans to do that right now?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, I don't.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. Let's talk about mass deportation –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Okay.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– one of your big agenda items. You've talked about prioritizing people who have criminal history.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Correct.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But is it your plan to deport everyone who is here illegally over the next four years?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I think you have to do it, and it's a hard – it’s a very tough thing to do. It’s – but you have to have, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally. You know the people that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been on line for ten years to come into the country. And we're going to make it very easy for people to come in in terms of they have to pass the test. They have to be able to tell you what the Statue of Liberty is. They have to tell you a little bit about our country. They have to love our country. They can't come out of prisons. We don't want people that are in for murder. So we had 11,000 and 13,000, different estimates. 13,099 murderers released into our country over the last three years. They're walking down the streets. They're walking next to you and your family. And they're very dangerous people –
KRISTEN WELKER:
The 13,000 figure I think goes back about 40 years.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
It goes – nope. No it doesn’t
KRISTEN WELKER:
That 13,000 figure.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
It's within the three-year period. It's during the Biden term. No, that was a fiction that they put that out. This was done by the border patrol. It's 13,099 and it's during the Biden period of time. And these are murderers, many of whom murdered more than one person. You don't want those people in this country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you're saying something, sir, that's significant. So –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Go ahead.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I just want to make sure I'm clear, which is that you're saying, yes, you're going to focus on the people with criminal histories, but everyone who's here illegally has to go, is what you're saying.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'm saying this. We have to get the criminals out of our country. We have to get people that were taken out of mental institutions and put them back into their mental institution no matter what country it is. Do you know that in Venezuela their prisons are, are at the lowest point in terms of emptiness that they've ever been? They're taking their people out of those prisons by the thousands and they’re drop – and just to get back, because I know exactly what you're getting at. Number one, we're doing criminals and we're going to do them really rapidly. We're getting the worst gang probably with MS-13 and the Venezuelan gangs are the worst in the world. They're vicious, violent people. And you've seen what they've done in Colorado and other places. They're taking over, they’re literally taking over apartment complexes and doing it with impunity. They don't care. They couldn’t – they just are – they're in the real estate business, okay?
KRISTEN WELKER:
You know that local police say that is not the case in Colorado.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Oh, it's totally the case. I mean, they have it on tape.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You don't believe the local police?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I play it, I used to play it at my rallies every single night. No, it was breaking into doors. They're taking over the building.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But sir, you raised the point –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
And by the way, the police, the police –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– are afraid to do anything.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You, you raised the point that the logistics are complicated. You said it yourself –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Sure they are. But everything's complicated.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– yeah, you need 24 times more ICE detention capacity just to deport 1 million people per year, not to mention more agents, more judges, more planes. Is it realistic to deport everyone who's here illegally?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
You have no choice. First of all, they're costing us a fortune. But we're starting with the criminals and we've got to do it. And then we're starting with others and we're going to see how it goes.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Who are the others?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Others are other people outside of criminals. We have convicted murderers. And we don't mean people that are even on trial. We have people that have murdered numerous people are on our streets and in our farms and we have to get them out of our country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
What about dreamers, sir? Dreamers, who were brought to this country illegally as children. You said once back in 2017 they, quote, "Shouldn't be very worried about being deported." Should they be worried now?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
The dreamers are going to come later, and we have to do something about the dreamers because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age. And many of these are middle-aged people now. They don't even speak the language of their country. And yes, we're going to do something about the dreamers. And –
KRISTEN WELKER:
What does that mean? What are you going to do?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I will work with the Democrats on a plan. And if we can come up with a plan, but the Democrats have made it very, very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the dreamers. The dreamers, we're talking many years ago they were brought into this country. Many years ago. Some of them are no longer young people. And in many cases, they've become successful. They have great jobs. In some cases they have small businesses. Some cases they might have large businesses. And we're going to have to do something with them. And –
KRISTEN WELKER:
You want them to be able to stay, that's what you're saying?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I do. I want to be able to work something out, and it should've been able to be worked out over the last three or four years and it never got worked out. You know, Biden could've done it because he controlled, you know, Congress to a certain extent, right? He could've done something, but they didn't do it. I never understood why because they always seemed to want to do it, but then when it comes down to it, they don't. I think we can work with the Democrats and work something out.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you about another group of people, the estimated 4 million families in America who have mixed immigration status. So I'm talking about parents who might be here illegally –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– but the kids are here legally. Your Border Czar Tom Homan –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
You're talking about separation?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, I mean there are two aspects to this. Your Border Czar Tom Homan said they can be deported together.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Correct.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is that the plan?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, that way you keep the – well, I don't want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don't break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Even kids who are here legally?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, what you've got to do if they want to stay with their father – look, we have to have rules and regulations. You can always find something out like, you know, "This doesn't work. That doesn't work." I'll tell you what's going to be horrible, when we take a wonderful young woman who's with a criminal. And they show the woman, and she could stay by the law, but they show the woman being taken out. Or they want her out and your cameras are focused on her as she's crying as she's being taken out of our country. And then the public turns against us. But we have to do our job. And you have to have a series of standards and a series of laws. And in the end, look, our country is a mess.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you about some of your other promises on this topic.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Okay. Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You promised to end birthright citizenship on day one.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Correct.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is that still your plan?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah. Absolutely.
KRISTEN WELKER:
The 14th Amendment, though, says that, quote, "All persons born in the United States are citizens."
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Can you get around the 14th Amendment with an executive action?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, we're going to have to get it changed. We'll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it. We're the only country that has it, you know.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Through an executive action? You’re going to –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
You know we're the only country that has it. Do you know if somebody sets a foot, just a foot, one foot, you don't need two, on our land, "Congratulations you are now a citizen of the United States of America." Yes, we're going to end that because it's ridiculous.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Through executive action?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Do you know – well, if we can, through executive action. I was going to do it through executive action but then we had to fix COVID first, to be honest with you. We have to end it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's talk about health care. I've been talking to Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They say it's no longer feasible to repeal and replace Obamacare because it's so entrenched in the system. Do you see it that way? Is that now off the table, repealing and replacing Obamacare?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
So, when John McCain let us down by voting, and Murkowski and Collins, and whoever it was that voted against, but they really let us down. They did us a great disservice, because we would've had great health – Obamacare is lousy health care. It's very expensive health care for the people. It's also expensive for the country, but for the people. It's lousy health care. When John McCain gave his thumbs down after saying for ten years that he wants to repeal and replace, okay, and then he came out, he put his now famous thumbs down and he became a hero to the left, just let me just tell you, if we find something better, I would love to do it. But unless we find – but, one thing I have to say, I inherited Obamacare, or anything else you want – it's got about 20 names. But I inherited it. And I had a decision to make with health and human services. I had a big decision to make. Do I make it as good as we can make it or do I let it rot? And a lot of political people said, "Let it rot and let it be a failure." I said, "That's not the right thing to do." And I had very good people in the medical area that handled that. And I said, "What do you want to do?" I said, "We really have an obligation to make it as good as we can," and we did. We made it as good as we can make it. Instead of, instead of making it bad, where everybody would be calling for its repeal, I made it so that it works. Now, it works –
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you did try to overturn it, sir.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, it's lousy. No, no.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You did try to overturn it. You did have your Justice Department try to direct the Supreme Court to overturn it.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, we had a little bit of a surprising opinion, to be honest with you. If it would've been overturned, we would've had much better health care right now. But right now we have something that I made the best of. I could've made the worst of it and it would've fallen by the wayside. I did the right thing from a human standpoint. But, you know, I'm sort of proud of my decision. At the same time, sometimes I regret it. I told the people and I gave them the money to do it. I said, "Fix it. Make it work." Because people would've suffered. But it's too bad that they voted no. I wish John McCain, I wish – he fought for ten years on repairing, replacing Obamacare. For ten years. And then he voted against. Nobody understands it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Sir, you said during the campaign you had concepts of a plan. Do you have an actual plan at this point for health care?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yes. We have concepts of a plan that would be better. But –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Still just concepts? Do you have a fully developed plan?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Let me explain. We have the biggest health care companies looking at it. We have doctors who are always looking. Because Obamacare stinks. It's lousy. There are better answers. If we come up with a better answer, I would present that answer to Democrats and to everybody else and I'd do something about it. But until we have that or until they can approve it – but we're not going to go through the big deal. I am the one that saved Obamacare, I will say. And I did the right thing. I could've done the more political thing and killed it. And all I had to do is starve it to death.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You did try to have your Justice Department effectively kill it, though, sir.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, no. Kill it from a legal standpoint. But from a physical standpoint, I made it work.
KRISTEN WELKER:
In - in your concepts of a plan, sir, will people with preexisting conditions still have coverage? And can you guarantee their prices will not go up?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
The answer is yes, they'll have coverage. You have to have it --
KRISTEN WELKER:
And what about their prices --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
-- because you know what, it’s --
KRISTEN WELKER:
What about their prices, sir?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I want the prices to go down. I want to have better healthcare for less money, and there are ways of doing it, I believe.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let's talk about abortion, sir. You have taken responsibility for overturning Roe v. Wade. You've said that abortion is now a state issue. There are steps that you could take, though, as president to restrict abortion through executive action without Congress. More than half of abortions in this country are medication abortions. Will you restrict the availability of abortion pills when you're in office?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'll probably - I’ll probably stay with exactly what I've been saying for the last two years. And the answer is no.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You commit to that?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I commit. I mean, are -- things do -- things change. I think they change. I hate to go on shows like Joe Biden, "I'm not going to give my son a pardon. I will not under any circumstances give him a pardon." I watched this and I always knew he was going to give him a pardon. And so, I don't like putting myself in a position like that. So things do change. But I don't think it's going to change at all.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And when we come back, will President-elect Trump direct his FBI director and attorney general to go after his political enemies?
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. In our interview, President-elect Trump defended some of his cabinet picks, including his embattled choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Hegseth, an army veteran, is facing allegations of past sexual misconduct and excessive drinking, which he denies. Mr. Trump told me he has confidence in Hegseth. I also asked him about his choice for FBI director, Kash Patel, a hardline critic of the very agency he's been tapped to lead.
[BEGIN TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
You named Kash Patel to be the next FBI director.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
He has a list in his book of 60 people that he calls members of the so-called "deep state." It includes Democrats like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. It includes former members of your cabinet, from Bill Barr to Christopher Wray. You campaigned on destroying the deep state. Do you want Kash Patel to launch investigations into people on that list?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No. I mean, he's going to do what he thinks is right. And I will --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, do you think that's right?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
-- and I will --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you think that’s right, sir?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
If they think that somebody was dishonest or crooked or a corrupt politician, I think he probably has an obligation to do it, but --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you going to direct him to do it?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No. Not at all. Not at all. We have two great people that – we have him, and we have Pam. And Pam Bondi has been like a rocket ship. She's very popular and very good and very fair. And Kash Patel is very fair. I'll tell you. I thought Kash may be difficult because he's, you know, a strong conservative voice, and I don't know of anybody that's not singing his praises. The other day, I was watching, and Trey Gowdy, who's a moderate person and very smart and very respected in the party, he's Kash’s biggest fan. He said, “This is the most misunderstood man in politics. He's great.” I guess they worked together on the Russia hoax or something, and Trey Gowdy became a fan. Trey, you know, Trey Gowdy. Everybody respects him, and, you know, just like him, others also, I don't know of one negative vote – I don't think he's going to have any negative votes.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is it your expectation, though, that Kash Patel will pursue investigations against your political enemies?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, I don't think so.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do you want to see that happen?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
If they were crooked, if they did something wrong, if they have broken the law, probably. They went after me. You know, they went after me and I did nothing wrong.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well, let me ask you this. You said, President Biden, quote, that you're going to appoint a real special prosecutor to go after Joe Biden. You said that during --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Where did I say that?
KRISTEN WELKER:
-- the campaign
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Where?
KRISTEN WELKER:
You said that on Truth Social, June 12, 2023: “I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States, Joe Biden –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, that part is true.
KRISTEN WELKER:
-- and the entire Biden crime family.” Are you going to do that? Are you going to go after Joe Biden?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'm really looking to make our country successful. I'm not looking to go back into the past. I'm looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success. If we can make our success - this country successful, that would be my greatest, that would be such a great achievement. Bring it back. We have a country now that's overridden with crime, that has millions of people that shouldn't be here, that should be in prisons in other countries, that should be in mental institutions. We have drug lords being dropped into our country and told never go back to their country. I'm looking to make our country great. I'm looking to get - bring prices down. Because, you know, I won on two things, the border and more than immigration. You know, they like to say immigration, I break it down more to the border, but I won on the border, and I won on groceries. Very simple word, groceries. Like almost - you know, who uses the word? I started using the word – the groceries. When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that. We're going to bring those prices way down.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to pause here, because what you're saying is significant. Because you wrote on Truth
Social in 2023 that you're going to appoint a real special prosecutor to go after Joe Biden. Now you're saying you're not going to do that.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I will say this, no, I'm not doing that unless I find something that I think is reasonable, but that's not going to be my decision. That's going to be Pam Bondi's decision, and, to a different extent, Kash Patel, assuming they're both there, and I think they're both going to get approved. But I - I - you know, while you ask me that, what they've done to me with weaponization is a disgrace.
KRISTEN WELKER:
We'll get to some of that, sir --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, no, wait, wait, wait, you can't do one without the other. In the history of our country, nothing like this has ever happened. And I've won these cases. I've won every one and the rest are in the process of being won. Deranged Jack Smith is on his way back to The Hague where he can execute people. This is where he should have stayed. I don’t - I think he's dangerous even being there. But I'll tell you what, what they've done to me in terms of weaponization, indictments, impeachments and everything else. And in the end, it probably helped, because I got the biggest vote, the most votes any Republican’s ever gotten in history.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Do - Pam Bondi talks about investigating the investigators. Do you want her to investigate Jack Smith based --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I want her to do what she wants to do.
KRISTEN WELKER:
-- do you want to see Jack Smith investigated?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I think he's very corrupt, but I want her to do whatever she –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you going to direct her --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, I’m not, I’m not
KRISTEN WELKER:
-- to prosecute Jack Smith?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
She's a very smart person. She's - She was a great attorney general in Florida. She's very experienced. I want her to do what she wants to do. I'm not going to instruct her to do it, no.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Sir, are you going to fire the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, who you appointed?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I can't say I'm thrilled with him. He invaded my home. I'm suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I'm very unhappy with the things he - he’s done, and crime is at an all time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we've discussed. I can't say I'm thrilled. I don't want to say -- I don't want to, again, I don't want to be Joe Biden and give you an answer and then do the exact opposite –
KRISTEN WELKER:
We're going to talk about that --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
-- so I'm not going to do that. What I'm going to say is I certainly cannot be happy with him. You take a look at what's happened. And then when I was shot in the ear, he said, “Oh, maybe it was shrapnel.” Where's the shrapnel coming from? Is it coming from - is it coming from heaven? I don't think so. So we need somebody to straighten – you know, I have a lot of respect for the FBI, but the FBI's respect has gone way down over the last number of years.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Don't you have to fire him in order to make room for Kash Patel --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah, but --
KRISTEN WELKER:
-- if he is, in fact, confirmed?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I mean, it would sort of seem pretty obvious that if Kash gets in, he's going to be taking somebody's place, right? Somebody is the man that you're talking about.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I asked you last time we sat down for an interview if you were going to pardon yourself. You said no. But now that President Biden has pardoned his son Hunter, are you reconsidering? Might you pardon yourself?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I didn't do anything wrong. I - I was given the option, and the lawyers told me -- a very specific lawyer. I don't have to go into who, but very high up in the - in the administration, said, "Sir, if you pardon yourself, you're going to look guilty, and you did nothing wrong." Oh, I had that option. I could've saved myself a lot of legal fees. But it turned out that I was right. Look at what's gone on. Everything's being dropped. I still have a - Fani Willis, Fani, a total hoax. That's a total hoax. Every - it's all being dropped.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
I also asked the president-elect about NBC News's reporting that President Biden is considering preemptive pardons for some of the people who have clashed with Mr. Trump, including Senator-elect Adam Schiff, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and former Congresswoman Liz Cheney. As part of his response, Mr. Trump lashed out at the January 6th committee, accusing it of unfairly targeting him and even of destroying its records, which the committee denies.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Cheney was behind it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Well –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee.
KRISTEN WELKER:
We’re going to —
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
For what they did –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yeah –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– honestly, they should go to jail.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you think Liz Cheney should go to jail?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
For what they did –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Everyone on the committee you think –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I think everybody –
KRISTEN WELKER:
– should go to jail?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– on the -- anybody that voted in favor –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Are you going to direct your FBI director –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– and your attorney general to send them to jail?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, not at all. I think that they'll have to look at that, but I'm not going to -- I'm going to focus on drill, baby, drill.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And I asked President-elect Trump if he plans to follow through on his campaign promise to pardon those who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, including the more than 900 people who pleaded guilty to crimes.
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'm going to look at everything. We're going to look at individual cases –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Everyone?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
But I'm going to be acting very quickly.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Within your first 100 days, first day?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
First day.
KRISTEN WELKER:
First day?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah. I'm looking first day.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You're going to issue these pardons?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
These people have been there, how long is it? Three, four years.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
You know, by the way, they've been in there for years, and they're in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn't even be allowed to be open.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And when we come back, President-elect Trump's message to the people who didn't vote for him.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. The Syrian government fell overnight, a stunning end to the more than 50-year rule of the Assad family, as rebels claim Damascus. I pressed the president-elect on a range of foreign policy issues - including U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO in his second administration.
[BEGIN TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Should Ukraine prepare for less aid from the United States after you're sworn in --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Possibly.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– to office?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah. Probably. Sure.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You said you can end the war in 24 hours. You've even said you want to try to end it before you're sworn into office --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Well, I'm trying to. I'm trying to end it if I can --
KRISTEN WELKER:
You're actively trying to?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I am.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Have you talked to President Putin?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, I have not.
KRISTEN WELKER:
You haven't talked to President Putin --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, I have not.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– since you've been elected?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I mean, no. Well, I don't want to say that. But I haven't spoken to him recently.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you've spoken to President Putin since you've been elected?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I don't want to say that. I don't want to say anything about that because I don't want to do anything that could impede the negotiation.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I want to stop--
KRISTEN WELKER:
– have talked about --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Let me tell you what --
KRISTEN WELKER:
– the other world leaders.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– I have talked about. Let me tell. There are people being killed in that war at levels that nobody's ever seen before. You have to go back to the Second World War, and even that, if you take a look -- and you know what it is? It's the soldiers largely. The cities have been emptied out and demolished. The country has been demolished. If I won that election, which you know how I feel about it. I won't get into it because we don't need to start that argument. I think it's an easy argument. It was really proven even more conclusively by the win that I had on this one. But--
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you did go to --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– had I --
KRISTEN WELKER:
– court, sir. And you didn’t –
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah, well, that's your opinion. But I disagree with it. Had I assumed, kept control. Number one, Israel wouldn't have happened. Number two, Ukraine would've never happened. It would've never happened, Ukraine, Russia. But the number of people that are being killed, soldiers, young, beautiful soldiers, hundreds of thousands of people are being killed. And, you know, it's very interesting. It's level. Totally level, the battlefields. Totally level. You know what's happening? The only thing that stops a bullet, you know what it is? Is a body, a human body. And the people that are being killed, hundreds of thousands on both sides. Russia's lost probably 500,000 –
KRISTEN WELKER:
It’s devastating.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Ukraine's lost higher than they say, probably 400,000. You're talking about hundreds of thousands of bodies laying all over the fields. It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen, and it should've never been allowed to happen. Biden should've been able to stop it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Sir, will the United States stay in NATO while you're in office?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
In where?
KRISTEN WELKER:
NATO. Do you commit that the United States will remain a member of NATO while you're in office?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Again, they have to pay their bills. If they pay their bills, absolutely.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But not if they don't pay their bills?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
But NATO's taking advantage of us. Because we were – look, two things. Number one, they take advantage of us on trade, meaning the European nations, okay, like terrible. They don't take our cars, they don't take our food product, they don't take anything. It's a disgrace. And on top of that, we defend them. So it’s a double-whammy. So let me just tell you, I was able to get hundreds of billions of dollars put into NATO just by a tough attitude. I said to the countries, "I'm not going to protect you unless you pay," and they started paying. And that amounted to more than $600 billion. That's a big thing. Otherwise they wouldn't even be fighting. They wouldn't have any money to fight. If they're paying their bills, and if I think they’re doing a fair – they're treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I'd stay with NATO.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But if not, you would consider the possibility of getting out?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
The president-elect is tasking Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, to try to cut government spending along with one of Mr. Trump's former primary rivals, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. All of it putting a spotlight on what it could mean for entitlements and defense spending.
[BEGIN TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
You've tapped Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to head up this Department of Government Efficiency --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Correct.
KRISTEN WELKER:
– which proposes cuts to the federal government. Think a lot of people hear that and they get concerned about Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
You’re not going to have anything to do --
KRISTEN WELKER:
And defense spending.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
We're talking about --
KRISTEN WELKER:
You won't touch Medicare --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– theft --
KRISTEN WELKER:
– Social Security?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– abuse, fraud. No. I said to people we're not touching Social Security, other than we make it more efficient. But the people are going to get what they're getting.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Okay. Entitlements off the table?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
And we're not raising ages or any of that stuff.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Ok. Off the table?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I won't do it.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Finally, I asked the president-elect about this extraordinary moment in time. He is taking office against the backdrop of a country that is so sharply divided, and when he has yet to concede the 2020 election, which he lost.
[BEGIN TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And sir, I don't have to tell you this, because you've talked about it. It comes at a time when the country is deeply divided, and now you're going to be leading this country for the next four years. For the sake of unifying this country, will you concede the 2020 election and turn the page on that chapter?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No. No, why would I do that? But let me just tell you --
KRISTEN WELKER:
You won't ever concede --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– when you say the country is deeply divided, I'm not the president. Joe Biden is the president.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But you're going to be the president.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, no. I'm not the president. So when you say it's deeply divided, I agree. But Biden's the president, I'm not. And he has been a divider. And you know where he divided it more than anything else, and it probably backfired on him. I think definitely is weaponization. When he weaponized the Justice Department and he went after his political opponent, me. He went after his political opponent violently because he knew he couldn't beat him. And I think it really was a bad thing, and it really divided our country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Sir, Democrats have control of the White House now. They didn't in 2020. If they are going around stealing elections, why didn't they do it this time --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
When you say Democrats have control now --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Of the White House. So why didn't they steal this election? Since they have more power now?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Because I think it was too big to rig.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you won't --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
It was too big to rig.
KRISTEN WELKER:
To the people who say that you're now directing your Justice Department to investigate 2020 and they want to move on --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
No, I think Pam is going to be great --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Is that a good use of precious resources? Is that what you want them to do --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
By the way, just so you know, I have the right to do that but I'm not interested in that.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Oh, you're not? You're not going to do that?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'm not interested. I have the absolute right. I'm the chief law enforcement officer, you do know that. I'm the president. But I'm not interested in that. You know what I'm interested in? Drilling, and getting prices down, and stopping people from pouring into our border that come from prisons and mental institutions.
KRISTEN WELKER:
One of the things that made this campaign unprecedented and extraordinary were the horrific attempts against your life. Two assassination attempts. Do you feel safe going into the White House --
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I do --
KRISTEN WELKER:
– for the next four years? Why?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I have confidence in Secret Service. I know the people. I got to know a lot of them, and I have confidence. It was a bad moment. Something shouldn't have happened. But I have a lot of confidence, and they really stepped it up. They were restricted from giving the – look, I do a rally, and you were at many of them. And I'd have 50,000 people. Joe would have a rally and he'd have 30 people. And he had more Secret Service than me. My Secret Service was always asking for more manpower slash woman power. They were asking for more and more, and more, and they couldn't get it. I'm not blaming them really, because they were always fighting for more people. And they wouldn’t get – now, boy, do we have it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
I want to ask you, sir, one final question. What do you want to say to Americans who didn't support you in this campaign?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I'm going to treat you every bit as well as I have treated the greatest MAGA supporters. There's never been anything like MAGA in the history of this country. These people are so dedicated to making America great again. It's very simple. And I'm going to treat them just the same as I treat MAGA. We're going to treat everybody good. We want success for our country, we want safety for our country. You know our country's under threat, as you know. We have tremendous threat militarily because of the power of weapons and weaponry. There's tremendous threat, nobody talks about it. But it's tremendous threat. I want to treat everybody the same. I want to treat them well. And at the end of this four years – and I have a big head start, because I was there for four years fairly recently. A lot of bad things were done during the four years that I wasn't there. And mostly – and what they've done in terms of our reputation overseas -- our reputation is so bad, so shot. I got to bring it back, and I also have to, have to bring back civilization to our country. Our country is a crime pod and we have to get rid of crime. We have so many things to do. We have to do the prices, we have to do all of that. But we have to get the criminals out of our country. We have to bring down crime. People have to be able to walk across the street and buy a loaf of bread without being shot. And that's going to happen. But what I say to them is I love you, and we're going to all work together. And we're going to bring it together. And you know what's going to bring it together? Success. I saw that just prior to COVID coming in, I had polls that were the highest anyone -- McLaughlin and Fabrizio said, "George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, if they came back from the dead and they ran as president and vice president, couldn't beat you, sir." We were doing so well. And I was getting along with the left. Let's call it the left. We'll be nice, okay? We’re just going to call it – but I was getting along with people that you would consider liberal or progressive, as they like to say, at levels that I never thought was possible. And you know what it was? Success. Success was bringing the country together, and that's what I want to do.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
And when we come back, President-elect Trump gives us a preview of his inaugural address.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. When Mr. Trump is sworn in as president in January, he will be the oldest person ever to assume the office. I asked Mr. Trump about what he will say in that inaugural address and whether he will release his medical records.
[BEGIN TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me ask you, sir, as you think about your inauguration. I remember your first inaugural address, you talked about American carnage. Have you thought about your message for your second inaugural address?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
I have. It’s –
KRISTEN WELKER:
Can you give us a preview?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
– unity. We’re going to have a message. It will make you happy: unity. It's going to be a message of unity. And again, I think success brings unity, and I've experienced that. I've experienced it in my first term. As I said, we're going to be talking about unity, and we're going to be talking about success, making our country safe, keeping people that shouldn't be in our country – we have to do that. I know it doesn't sound nice, but we have to do that. But basically it's going to be about bringing our country together.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Sir, when you think about your time in office, you are making history for a range of reasons, including the fact you will be the oldest person to be sworn into office. Do you commit to releasing your medical records?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Sure, I do it all the time. I think I've released four of them.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Not just a letter though. Your – your full medical report.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Yeah, I would, and I think anybody should. But I – I mean, according to all the reports, I don't want to – where's wood? Is this a wood where I can knock on wood? But my reports are very good, very strong.
KRISTEN WELKER:
So you plan to release them?
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP:
Sure, no problem with it.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER:
You can watch our full interview with President-elect Donald Trump at NBCNews.com. And when we come back, the panel is here for reaction.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Welcome back. The panel is here. NBC News Managing Washington Editor Carol Lee; Eugene Daniels, White House correspondent for Politico and co-author of Politico Playbook; former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, host of Inside with Jen Psaki; and Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. Thanks to all of you for being here on a very big Sunday. Carol, let me start with you. You broke the news earlier this week that President Biden was going to pardon his son, Hunter. It's just one of the many topics we discussed. What were your key takeaways from this conversation?
CAROL LEE:
Well, a couple of things, Kristen. You know, I was struck by how succinctly the president-elect summed up his mandate. He said, "I won on the border and I won on groceries," and how quickly he plans to move on both of those fronts. And then his posture on retribution against his perceived political adversaries. You know, he is suggesting that he'll keep some distance from the FBI and the Justice Department in a way, perhaps, he didn't during his first term. So he's saying, you know, "Those decisions about investigations, they'll be left up to the people that I put in those agencies. However, you know, some of these folks should probably be in jail." And so you know, that message comes off as a little bit mixed. And he's saying it knowing that the people that he's putting in these jobs are people who share his views on these issues. And so it'll be very interesting to see how that plays out.
KRISTEN WELKER:
It will be, Eugene. And to hear him back away from what he had posted on Truth Social, that he did want to go after President Biden. He backed away from that. He said his success is going to be his retribution. But, as Carol notes, there was some mixed messaging, broadly speaking. He had some pretty strong language for the January 6th Committee.
EUGENE DANIELS:
Yeah. I think one of things that was most fascinating is he didn't seem very combative in this interview, right? Including on those points, right? He said some names. He said “Bennie Thompson, Liz Cheney. Maybe they should be in jail, maybe not. That's someone else's decision." But he didn't want to fight with you, right? And that's something that he often wants to do. So it shows you, one, that he feels emboldened. He won this election. He feels ready to move on. And I thought what was most fascinating is the – there's no ideological purity with him. And that popped up over and over and over again, right? Just a patchwork of different policy prescriptions for things that usually, if you're a Republican, there's kind of, you know, "This, this, and this, and that's what we care about." That wasn't here with Donald Trump. And I think that kind of gives voters what they wanted, which was not exactly a Republican who's going to do all of the things that Republicans typically do.
KRISTEN WELKER:
It's a fascinating way to put it, Marc, that there's no ideological purity that we heard. But he was very clear about what his agenda items were, and he feels emboldened that he believes he has a mandate after his decisive win.
MARC SHORT:
Well, he should. And I thought he looked very relaxed and confident in your long interview, covering a lot of topics. I do think that you're going to see a flurry of activity in the first 100 days from the executive branch. But I do think something that's being underappreciated here from a legislative agenda is, what is the legislative agenda? The one item that's really there is going to be trying to renew the tax relief package from 2017. And when that was passed, 12 House Republicans defected. So we talk about the fact that there are 53 Republican senators, which should help in those confirmations. But Speaker Johnson's going to have an enormous task next year, and it's going to be a really hard job. And he really is going to have hardship, one or two members at all to actually can lose. And so getting legislation through the Congress is going to be very difficult. And certainly, if Trump isn't getting his way he is going to blame Senate and House leadership for that.
JEN PSAKI:
And those tax cuts are very unpopular across the country, which is another challenge --
MARC SHORT:
Oh, I don't know about that. Come on.
JEN PSAKI:
They are in every piece of data, Marc --
MARC SHORT:
The economy is one of the reasons he won.
JEN PSAKI:
They're in every piece of data. That's why it's interesting --
MARC SHORT:
It's one of the reasons he won.
JEN PSAKI:
-- that it's - it’s in his agenda.
MARC SHORT:
If that was the case, Kamala would've done a lot better if that was the case.
JEN PSAKI:
You know, one of the things that struck me, Kristen, yes, the tone was different, but it doesn't mean it's a difference in his priorities or his policies. Because even when it talks - when you, when you listen to what he had to say about retribution, "Retribution will be through success." That's not saying he's not going to go after his political enemies. What I heard was him trying to give some space for himself for plausible deniability. Because he picked these people, and Carol touched on this -- Pam Bondi and Kash Patel are election deniers. Kash Patel is somebody who has empathized with QAnon. They know what the direction is. He does not need to direct them. This is why he picked them. They have passed the loyalty test. So what struck me is more tone, not a difference in what he intends to do or what he wants the people he's nominating to do.
KRISTEN WELKER:
It's a really critical point. He's also put hardliners in charge of his immigration policy, which I thought it was a big headline for him to say, "We are deporting everyone." Eugene, though he said, yes, he wants to try to work out a deal for Dreamers.
EUGENE DANIELS:
Yeah. I think that is where he's thought the most about, when you're thinking about what his policies are going to be, is immigration. When you went through tick by tick by tick of the kinds of things that we're seeing, he had a lot of ideas. And it was kind of the most clarity we've gotten on immigration from him. I will also say, he and his team feel like he has the backing of the American people, especially on mass deportation. Because in some polls, 53% of Americans say that they are for mass deportation. Now, when you dig into kind of what that means and whether you want your neighbors to get out of the country, or you know, what happens with children, or when you see that woman that he's talking about getting pulled away, is that different? And he talked about it, I think most interestingly, "The public might turn against us on immigration," so they have to be careful there, is what he's saying.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Carol.
CAROL LEE:
That was what struck me, is that he seemed a little uncertain about how some of this stuff's going to play out. Yes, he's going to do it. But you know, when you talk about birthright citizenship, you know, first of all there are other countries that have birthright citizenship.
It's not just the United States. But he said, "If we can do it by an executive order. Maybe we'll have to take it to the people," you know, suggesting some sort of constitutional amendment. And on mass deportations, he talked about how this might play out publicly. He talks about the woman who's crying, and the cameras are capturing her as she's being deported. And he said, you know, "Then the public turns against us." So he's not real confident that this is going to play out exactly how he wants it to be.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Such a revelatory moment there. Jen, we talked about foreign policy as well. Of course we're all watching what's happening in Syria. The government has been toppled. I talked to him about Ukraine and NATO. Boy, he really left the door open to potentially pulling out of NATO.
JEN PSAKI:
He certainly did, which I don't think should be a surprise. He also refused, after you pushed him repeatedly, to answer the question as to whether he'd talked to Vladimir Putin. And when you --
KRISTEN WELKER:
Yes. I tried. I tried it.
JEN PSAKI:
Certainly. When you look at the statement he put out in response to Assad fleeing the country, it was almost defensive of Putin and defensive of the Russians’ interest. So this is definitely a massive shift. There is an allegiance, an affinity for Russia that is different than what we have had in Democratic and Republican presidents for decades.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And Marc, he was very clear, there will likely be less funding for Ukraine, with the last 30 seconds we have.
MARC SHORT:
Well, sure. That's been his position all along. I think that the ones who are celebrating most right now in the situation in Syria is the fact that -- I should say, the ones who I think are most concerned are Putin, the Ayatollah, and Tulsi Gabbard.
KRISTEN WELKER:
And by the way, I asked him about Tulsi Gabbard. He said he has confidence in her and Pete Hegseth, who's also another embattled Cabinet pick. Thank you all for being here for a fantastic conversation. That is all for today. Thank you for watching. We'll be back next week, because if it's Sunday, it is Meet the Press.