Washington, Jun 8: US President Donald Trump abruptly ended a televised interview with NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday after a heated exchange with anchor Kristen Welker over his claims that elections in California were rigged.

The confrontation escalated from a discussion about California's vote-counting process into a personal clash, with Trump accusing the journalist and several major American media organisations of being "crooked" before walking out of the interview.

Dispute Begins Over California Vote Counting
The exchange started when Trump criticised the time taken to count votes in California elections.

Referring to the state's ballot-counting process, Trump said, “It's four days, and they aren't even close to coming up with the results.”

When Welker pointed out that California's vote-counting system routinely takes longer than some other states, Trump alleged that the delay was linked to election fraud.

“Do you know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating in the election,” he said.

Welker Repeatedly Asks For Evidence
Welker then pressed the President on whether he had evidence to support his allegations.

According to the interview, Trump responded, “All I have to do is look,” adding that he listens to people regarding election concerns.

When Welker noted that there was no evidence supporting claims of widespread election rigging, Trump did not provide specific proof and instead questioned the legitimacy of taking several days to determine election results.

“Do you think it's appropriate that they have an election and five days later, they're nowhere close to picking a winner?” Trump asked.

Welker replied that while the process was slow, election officials were working to improve it.

Here's the full chain of events that led to Trump storming out of his interview with Kristin Welker, beginning with her pressing him on the weaponization fund, continuing with her pointing out the baselessness of his "rigged election" lies, and concluding with him calling her… pic.twitter.com/p8frVtICTt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 7, 2026

Interview Turns Personal
The discussion quickly became confrontational, with Trump accusing election officials, journalists and television networks of dishonesty.

“They're crooked, just like you're crooked, your press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked,” Trump said.

When Welker responded, “To be fair, I'm not crooked,” Trump replied: “You're either crooked or you're stupid.”

He further alleged that major American news networks were biased.

“Your elections are crooked, and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN. You're a one-sided crooked network,” he said.

Trump Ends Interview
Moments later, Trump announced he was ending the conversation.

“Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” he said before removing his microphone and throwing it to the ground.

As Welker attempted to continue the interview, Trump referenced the conditions under which the interview had been conducted.

“I sat in the rain with you for an hour,” he said, adding that he had already given enough time to the network.

“You ought to straighten out your press,” Trump remarked before leaving.

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Latest In A Series Of Media Clashes
The NBC interview was not the first recent confrontation between Trump and members of the media.

Days earlier, the President publicly criticised CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins during a separate event, describing CNN as “a very corrupt organisation.”

Trump also directed personal remarks at Collins and told her to “be quiet” during an exchange concerning the US Department of Justice and issues related to the January 6 Capitol riot investigations.

The latest episode adds to a long history of tense interactions between Trump and major American news organisations, a recurring feature of his political career and public appearances.