‘Meet the Press’ Ratings Surge 19% Thanks to Trump Interview

NBC News benefited from a healthy “Trump bump” this past weekend, with viewership of “Meet the Press” surging 19% week-over-week thanks to the long-running program’s recent interview with the president.

“Meet the Press” reached 2.76 million viewers on Sunday, according to Nielsen data shared with TheWrap on Tuesday — up from the 2.32 million viewers the show had the week prior. Plus, the ratings for Sunday’s episode were up 22% compared to two weeks prior on Easter Sunday.

That viewership boost also helped “Meet the Press” easily top its counterparts on Sunday, beating ABC’s “The Week” by 444,000 viewers and CBS’s “Face the Nation” by 222,000 viewers. “Meet the Press” had come in behind both shows in the ratings a week earlier.

Anchor Kristen Welker’s wide-ranging interview with President Trump led to several notable moments, including when he was pressed on whether he believed all people on American soil were entitled to due process.

“I don’t know,” Trump replied. “I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”

Welker also asked him whether he agreed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stated that both citizens and non-citizens are entitled to due process within in the United States. She followed up by saying the Fifth Amendment is clear on the issue.

“I don’t know. I have brilliant lawyers that work for me and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said,” President Trump replied. “What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said – they have a different interpretation.”

The back-and-forth came as the Trump administration has prioritized deporting violent immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally.

Other standout moments included his response when Welker asked if a short-term recession would be OK in order for the economy to make long-term gains. “Look, yeah, everything’s OK,” the president said. He also said he will not push to remove Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell before his term is finished in 2026.

As for the interview’s digital reach, it has been viewed more than 1.2 million times on YouTube so far and has been viewed more than 16 million times on TikTok, according to an NBC News source.

The post ‘Meet the Press’ Ratings Surge 19% Thanks to Trump Interview appeared first on TheWrap.