President Donald Trump has called for the Federal Communications Commission to take action against NBC’s Kristen Welker, host of the long-running programme Meet the Press, after she described his record on political endorsements as “mixed”. The extraordinary demand marks another escalation in the administration’s increasingly aggressive stance towards broadcasters deemed critical of the White House.
Trigger for the FCC Demand
The controversy began during a live segment on NBC’s Washington affiliate when Welker discussed the success rate of candidates backed by the president. Trump responded with a scathing social media post, labelling her the “Unpopular ‘Hostess’ of Meet the Fake Press” and accusing her of “purposeful inaccuracy”. He called for FCC chairman Brendan Carr and fellow commissioners to “take this Threat to our Country very seriously”.
Welker and Trump have history. In June, the president abruptly ended an hour-long interview with the host after she pressed him on his campaign pledge of “no new wars” – a promise undermined by military action in Iran launched alongside Israel earlier this year.
“You’re a one-sided crooked network,” Trump told Welker at the time. “Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough.”
The Endorsement Power Question
During Sunday’s broadcast of Meet the Press, an analyst told viewers that “the single most important factor in who the Republican nominee will be in 2028 will be who Donald Trump endorses”. The observation cuts to the heart of why the endorsement question has become so sensitive for the president.
Numbers from recent cycles paint a picture of remarkable influence. Trump has made more than 300 endorsements that resulted in victory for the recipient. In the run-up to November’s midterm elections, 214 of the 218 House candidates he backed won their primaries, including all 24 Republican Senate contests.
Not everything has gone smoothly, however. Five of the 21 gubernatorial candidates Trump supported lost their primaries. Among the defeats was Mike Lindell, the pillow entrepreneur and prominent election conspiracy theorist, who finished a distant second in Minnesota to state House speaker Lisa Demuth. The state’s supreme court on Saturday rejected Lindell’s bid for a recount, confirming his eleven-percentage-point margin of defeat.
Trump has remained defiant. “My Endorsements are stronger than ever,” he posted on 23 August. “There has never been anything close!”
The president also cited recent primary victories, including South Carolina Senate candidate Darline Graham – sister of the late senator – and Oklahoma gubernatorial hopeful Mike Mazzei as evidence of his continued pull with Republican voters.
The Broader Regulatory Campaign
Sunday’s attack on Welker fits a pattern. The administration has systematically deployed regulatory pressure against broadcasters it views as hostile. In September 2025, chairman Carr reportedly pressured television station groups to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel’s programme as punishment for comments the ABC host made following the assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk.
Sinclair and Nexstar – both considered sympathetic to conservative viewpoints – complied. ABC itself chose to pull Kimmel’s show “indefinitely” before he eventually returned a week later.
The network has also won private settlements exceeding $30 million from ABC and CBS during his second presidency. Earlier in August, ABC sued the FCC, alleging the regulator was acting illegally by forcing early renewal applications for its eight local broadcast licences. Among Republican complaints against ABC is the perceived imbalance of viewpoints on the daytime talkshow The View.
“Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the network stated in its legal filing.
NBC, which holds FCC licences for eleven local stations, declined to comment. The FCC, established in 1934, was designed with limited authority over editorial decisions – a point media commentators were quick to note. However, chairman Carr has shown responsiveness to White House preferences in the past.
Why it Matters
The targeting of a seasoned journalist like Welker with regulatory threats raises profound questions about the boundaries between executive power and press freedom. Whether or not the FCC possesses the legal authority to act on Trump’s demand is almost secondary to the chilling effect such public pressure creates. Broadcasters depend on regulatory relationships with the FCC for their operating licences, and the message from the White House appears clear: coverage that contradicts the administration’s narrative carries professional risk. For democracy to function, the press must be able to report on those in power without fearing punishment from above – a principle that now hangs in the balance.
