What Trump on “Meet The Press” Might Tell Us about the Next 1,400 Days
President Trump sits for an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” (NBC)
By Gavin Stroud ‘28
In May 2025, just over 100 days since the beginning of his second term, President Donald Trump appeared in an interview with Kristen Welker, moderator of “Meet the Press” to discuss his presidency. The hour-long conversation covered wide ground, touching on everything from the typical talking points around border security, the economy, and global trade, to conflicts about the role of due process, free speech, and the Constitution. At times meandering, at other moments repetitive and all-too-familiar, the interview offers a look into what the President may have planned for the rest of his term—in his own words.
On the Domestic Economy, Tariffs, and Trade
President Trump has faced harsh criticism of his hard-line tariff policy on major trade partners like China and the European Union. One of the most recent voices to enter this conversation is Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence who, in a recent CNN interview, said plainly that he feels the President’s current trade policies “will harm consumers” and “ultimately harm the American economy,” chiefly as a result of inflation and possible economic stagnation.
In response to this criticism, Trump assured Welker that “we’re doing great.” On the question of whether “tariff relief” programs would be issued to help small businesses concerned with rising costs as a result of increasing tariffs, Trump replied that “They [small businesses] aren’t going to need it [tariff relief]. They’ll be making so much money.” This sentiment reflects a major pillar of his campaign: a focus on resolving trade deficits through promoting American industrial activity and eliminating trade deficits with major partner countries, which he argues will ultimately bring greater prosperity—in this case, to middle-class business owners. While the promise of restoring the job security and economic self-sufficiency of a prior American era is hopeful, the pains the American economy is currently experiencing as a result of his policies are growing.
A key component of Trump’s economic policy emphasized in the interview is the resolution of the U.S.’s considerable trade deficits with major trade partners. He cites his recent imposition of harsh unilateral tariffs north of 145% on Chinese imports as “saving hundreds of billions,” more dramatically reflecting a shift to a place where American businesses “aren’t doing business with China.” However, the short term impacts of these tariffs are mixed. A Reuters article published in early May of this year cites the tariff’s successes at reducing imports from China to the lowest level in years, as well as marginal rises in exports of goods like industrial materials and automotives. But contrary to Trump’s larger goals, the U.S. trade deficit as measured in March of 2025 sits at a record high of around $140 billion. The impact on the trade deficit, massive volatility in the stock market, and rising prices for many consumer goods remain sticking points for his overall policy. In the face of this, Trump maintains that “we’re going to be a very rich country.”
On Border Security
Another major goal of Trump’s term, carried over directly from 2016, is to scale up security on the southern border with Mexico. He speaks highly of his successes during the interview, assuring Welker that the border is “really secure,” putting an end to what he describes as an “open border” under the Biden Administration. In January, he declared a state of emergency on the southern border, approving a massive increase in military presence in a move criticized by many as an overextension of federal power. Though a controversial show of force to many, there is some considerable evidence to suggest that Trump’s border policies have been effective at least in the short term at reducing the number of illegal border crossings—a prime objective for the Republican ticket. Looking toward the future, we can expect that Trump (unless blocked by court action) will continue his enforcement of the border and hard-line stance on immigration. Of course, whether he will continue to experience the same success in the years to come is not guaranteed.
On the Constitution
The most publicized segment of the interview followed Welker asking Trump if he felt he “need[ed] to uphold the Constitution of the United States as President,” to which he replies in a widely circulated soundbite: “I don’t know.”
He follows this by implying that this question be left to the “brilliant lawyers” that “work for [him].” The uneasy reaction by much of the press to the President’s apprehension toward enforcing the Constitution seems understandable, given the possible implications of a loose adherence to the document’s prescriptions of limitations on executive power. Already, his administration’s profuse issuing of executive orders has attracted much attention from legal scholars and garnered much conflict, resulting in the issuing of several lawsuits.
These lawsuits challenge Trump’s executive orders suspending birthright citizenship, threatening collective bargaining power of workers and unions, imperiling job security of federal employees, and countless other issues. Given the broad controversies surrounding these policies, it’s clear that Trump’s approach to executive power and his relationship with the Constitution are likely to pose further issues for his campaign and goals moving forward.
On Democracy and Due Process
A natural extension of the Constitutional question is how the President will approach the handling of due process issues, especially with regards to his border enforcement policies. When asked if he agreed if all “citizens and non-citizens” deserve due process, he again responded with “I’ll leave that to the lawyers.” The application of due process does indeed tend to become more complicated among non-citizens, but this problem has persisted for almost as long as the concept has existed in the country's legal system. Trump’s apprehension toward the due process question recalls earlier hesitations regarding the Constitution and the courts’ restrictions on his executive orders, further illustrating a general skittishness about publicly addressing ways in which his approach to executive power runs against codified checks on the executive.
Concerning a contemporary incident involving due process, Welker asks Trump about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his detainment in El Salvador, an action which his administration labeled an “administrative error.” Specifically, she references a prior assertion that he has the power to return Garcia to the United States as well as the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision compelling his administration to do so, asking if he is “defying the Supreme Court?” Trump replies that he is simply “relying on the Attorney General of the United States (Pam Bondi),” suggesting that he is “not involved in the legality or illegality” of the decision. We see here yet another instance of apprehension around topics involving constitutional and due process affairs, this time deeply involved with recent controversial events.
Responding to the concerning gaps left by Trump’s evasive responses to questions about restrictions on his power, Welker asked Trump about dissent and democracy. Specifically, she asked if he believed the public “should have the right to criticize [him] without fear of reprisal.” “Absolutely,” he responded. Coming off of his apparent trepidation regarding the Constitution, a verbal assertion of his acceptance of First Amendment rights conveys an interesting, though reassuring, tonal shift.
Conclusion
Though the interview treads again over many familiar talking points, runs through several predictable verbal conflicts between Trump and Welker, it presents what is essentially the most current thesis of the Trump Administration from the man himself. It’s a look into his ambitions, his worries, and the prospective future.