NBC News Posts Litany of Fact Checks Following Trump’s Wild Meet the Press Interview

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President Donald Trump’s contentious interview with Kristen Welker of  Meet The Press was heavily fact-checked by NBC News on Sunday.

In an article on NBCNews.com, reporter Jane C. Timm wrote, “Throughout the interview, which aired Sunday, Trump made a series of false, misleading or exaggerated comments. NBC News reporters dug into some of the president’s remarks. Here are the facts behind the claims.”

On Iran, NBC News took issue with a list of Trump’s claims, starting with his reason for starting the war: “They were very close to having a nuclear weapon.”

“Trump’s statements are not in line with what then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers in March 2025, months before the initial U.S. strikes on Iran,” the fact-check said, citing an NBC News report in June 2025 “that the U.S. assessment of Iran’s nuclear program had not changed since March.”

“Additionally, while Trump claimed that the U.S. ‘totally obliterated’ an Iranian nuclear site in the strikes, the reality is more nuanced,” the report said. “NBC News reported in July 2025 that one nuclear enrichment site was mostly destroyed, but two others were not as badly damaged.”

The report also took issue with Trump’s “exaggerated” claim that U.S. forces have completely destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, and anti-aircraft.

“NBC News has reported that half of the country’s unconventional navy remains intact after weeks of bombing,” the report said.

Welker pressed Trump on his repeated campaign pledge, “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”

“I didn’t guarantee no war,” Trump told Welker. “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”

When questioned on exorbitant gas prices, Trump told Welker, “If we sign an agreement, it’ll go down now. Otherwise, they’ll go down after we’re finished.”

But the fact-check disputed that prices will go down immediately: “oil executives have said it will take time to restore oil production in the Middle East and bring down gas prices, even if the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately.”

On the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots, Trump claimed that rioters “had FBI agents ushering them into” the Capitol building, but Welker maintained, “there’s no evidence that any FBI special agents ushered anyone into the building.”

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale also called Trump out over his J6 claim, writing, “There’s precisely no evidence this happened. ”

Trump ended up storming out of the interview after calling Welker “stupid” and Meet The Press “crooked.” On Sunday, Welker said on camera, “We both acknowledged the complications in the interview posed by the rain. He agreed to sit down with me for another Meet The Press interview.”

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