{"id":860,"date":"2026-06-07T13:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T13:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=860"},"modified":"2026-06-07T13:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T13:11:45","slug":"fact-checking-trumps-interview-with-nbc-news-meet-the-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=860","title":{"rendered":"Fact-checking Trump\u2019s interview with NBC News\u2019 \u2018Meet the Press\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump sat for an interview with \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Kristen Welker on Friday, discussing topics including the war with Iran, gas prices and the \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund.<\/p>\n

Read more World Cup gives Los Angeles a chance to showcase Olympic readiness<\/a><\/p>\n

Throughout the interview, which aired Sunday, Trump made a series of false, misleading or exaggerated comments.<\/p>\n

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NBC News reporters dug into some of the president\u2019s remarks. Here are the facts behind the claims.<\/p>\n

Iran war<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Trump defended his first-term decision to terminate the Iran nuclear deal President Barack Obama had negotiated and his second-term decision to initially strike Iran in June 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very close to having a nuclear weapon. I terminated the deal. Then I sent the B-2 bombers in about nine, 10 months ago. And they obliterated, totally obliterated, the site. And I saved it,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe had a choice. We could let them have a nuclear weapon, or we could go along and have some beautiful days. But they would have, you know, it\u2019s a judgment. They would\u2019ve used a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the interview, Trump reiterated: \u201cIf I didn\u2019t go in there with the B-2 bombers, they would right now have a nuclear weapon, and it could be that half of the world would be eradicated already.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Trump\u2019s 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. At the time, Gabbard testified that U.S. spy agencies had assessed that Iran had not decided whether to build nuclear weapons, but that the country had stockpiles of enriched uranium beyond what is required for civilian purposes. NBC News reported in June 2025 that the U.S. assessment of Iran\u2019s nuclear program had not changed since March. Additionally, while Trump claimed that the U.S. \u201ctotally obliterated\u201d an Iranian nuclear site in the strikes, the reality is more nuanced. NBC News reported in July 2025 that one nuclear enrichment site was mostly destroyed, but two others were not as badly damaged. <\/p>\n

Currently, Iran likely nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60%, a short step from weapons grade, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Even if Iran had enough uranium enriched to weapons grade, it would need months or possibly more than a year to build a nuclear warhead that could fit on the tip of a missile, according to experts and former officials.<\/p>\n

Before Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal in his first term, Iran had no stockpiles of uranium enriched beyond a low level and was subject to regular United Nations inspections.<\/p>\n

Welker noted that Trump had promised he would negotiate a better deal, asking him if he wished he would have done so in his first term. Trump responded that it was better to negotiate now, saying \u201cIsrael wouldn\u2019t have been ready\u201d during his first stint in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Trump also said during the interview that major arms of the Iranian military were \u201cgone\u201d as a result of the current war.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

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He said at another point in the interview: \u201cIn three months, I\u2019ve demolished the navy, the air force, anti-aircraft. They have no radar. They have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is exaggerated. NBC News has reported that half of the country\u2019s unconventional navy remains intact after weeks of bombing. The unconventional navy includes small \u201cfast boats\u201d typically used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, Tehran\u2019s hard-line military force. Those forces are key to Iran\u2019s ability to influence international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and because of the nature of that navy, it has been harder for the U.S. to identify and target those forces.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon has said the U.S. military has destroyed about 90% of Iran\u2019s conventional navy and more than 95% of Iran\u2019s naval mines, though. Defense officials have also said more than 80% of Iran\u2019s \u201cmissile facilities\u201d are gone, suggesting locations where Iran constructs missiles and other weaponry could be targeted should operations resume.<\/p>\n

Trump was also pressed by Welker on his campaign pledge not to start any new wars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?\u201d Trump said. \u201cI built our military.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Trump repeatedly promised as a candidate that he would not start new wars if elected.<\/p>\n

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Trump said while campaigning in Pennsylvania in 2024: \u201cI will not send you to fight and die in stupid foreign wars that never end. I will not send our sons and daughters to go fight for a war in a country that you\u2019ve never heard of. We\u2019re not going to do it. We\u2019re going to bring our troops home, and we\u2019re going to focus on America First.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in his November 2024 victory speech, Trump said: \u201cI\u2019m not going to start a war. I\u2019m going to stop wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Send your questions for Steve Kornacki<\/a><\/p>\n

Gas prices<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Asked about rising gas prices that have resulted from the war, Trump said they would go down once a deal is reached.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we sign an agreement, it\u2019ll go down now. Otherwise, they\u2019ll go down after we\u2019re finished,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

But 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.<\/p>\n

Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman said at a Bernstein Research conference late last month that it is \u201cgoing to take time to rebalance the global markets\u201d once the strait reopens due to dwindling inventories.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can estimate four to six weeks before we get into a normal supply chain,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it all depends on whether the strait opens \u2014 at what time it opens. And then the question for the world and every country and every commercial organization is how quickly do you rebuild those inventories?\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of the United Arab Emirates state oil group ADNOC, recently said: \u201cEven if this conflict ends tomorrow, it will take at least four months to get back to 80% of pre-conflict flows and full flows will not return before the first or even second quarter of 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jan. 6 riot<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Trump defended the Justice Department\u2019s proposed $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund, saying that allies who \u201chave been hurt so badly by radical left lunatics\u201d deserve payment. While the Justice Department told a court that the fund is \u201cnot going forward,\u201d there\u2019s nothing to stop the Trump administration from giving payouts to Trump allies in the future, even without the fund.<\/p>\n

Asked by Welker whether anyone who attacked police officers on Jan 6. should receive funds, Trump said he \u201cwouldn\u2019t be inclined to say so, but I have to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Welker again brought up the roughly 170 Jan. 6 rioters who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers, Trump said: \u201cThey pled guilty because they were frightened. They went down. They were ushered into a building. Many of them were arrested without even going into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

This needs context, as some of the most violent rioters from that day never entered the building. The Biden Justice Department\u2019s sprawling Jan. 6 probe mostly focused on individuals who either entered the Capitol itself or engaged in some sort of aggravating conduct outside the Capitol, such as assaulting police officers.<\/p>\n

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More from NBC News’ interview with Trump<\/h2>\n