Kristen Welker steps into the “Meet the Press” anchor chair on Sunday with an interview with former President Donald Trump, which will be prerecorded for fact-checking purposes.
The interview will have no live audience and the same invitation has been extended to President Joe Biden, according to a spokesperson for NBC.
Chuck Todd hosted his final show last Sunday after nine years at the helm of the program.
Welker previously served as NBC News’ chief White House correspondent and the co-anchor of “Saturday Today.” Welker moderated the second presidential debate between Biden and Trump in 2020.
Trump’s most recent appearance on “Meet the Press” was in June 2019, before his dramatic departure from the White House.
The pretaped interview will take place Thursday in Bedminster, New Jersey and marks the former president’s first interview on a broadcast network since leaving office.
“Meet the Press” airs at 9 a.m. ET this Sunday, where the full interview will be shown. However, NBC News is going full-out for Welker’s debut, previewing early releases from the interview on “NBC Nightly News,” on Thursday and “Today,” on Friday.
NBC’s “Meet the Press” programming regularly features important politicians, with every U.S. president appearing on the show since John F. Kennedy.
