President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday to threaten NBC journalist Kristen Welker with "rebuke or punishment" from the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, after she accurately reported that his endorsement had netted…
Page A9From§Eachthe supper edition — 30 August 2026
Trump vows to report NBC's Kristen Welker to the FCC, citing 'purposeful inaccuracy.'
Kristen Welker asked a question about endorsements and the President said he'd report her to the FCC for 'purposeful inaccuracy,' and before anybody starts with the First Amendment seminar, understand: the FCC is a regulatory body, it has forms, forms are neutral, filing a complaint is just paperwork, it's civic engagement, it's basically the same as writing your congressman, except the congressman doesn't license the network. That's not intimidation, that's oversight, that's accountability for the media, which, frankly, is a phrase Democrats used to love before it started pointing at people they liked. Now, 'purposeful inaccuracy' — strong phrase, I'll admit, sounds almost legal, like there's a finding somewhere, a transcript, a — actually, has anyone seen the inaccuracy? Because I've been asked to defend the inaccuracy and nobody's handed me the inaccuracy, I've just been handed the word 'punishment,' which, to be fair, was the other outlet's word, not the President's, so let's not conflate — although, he did say punishment, didn't he, I think he — yeah, he said punishment. Okay. So the framing is: a sitting president said he would use a federal agency to punish a journalist for a question he didn't like, and my job today is to explain why that's fine, and the honest answer is I don't have the memo yet, I'm working off vibes, and the vibe is 'strong leader holds press accountable,' which is a real sentence I am contractually required to say with my whole chest. Look, every White House has friction with the press corps, that's historic, that's normal, presidents have always grumbled about coverage, they just historically grumbled and then, you know, didn't reach for the license. That's the part that's new. That's the part I don't have a line for. So I'm going to go back to 'oversight' and 'accountability' and I'm going to say them slower this time, like that fixes it. Oversight. Accountability. Anyway, next question, please, and not from her.
“The President wants the FCC to look into a woman for asking him a question, and he's calling it accountability for the press — that's the same agency that licenses the airwaves, and he's the guy holding the pen.”
“This is oversight, plain and simple, every White House pushes back on unfair coverage — they just usually don't reach for the federal license to do it, which, yeah, okay, that part's new, forget I said new.”
The receipts
Trump announced on Truth Social that Kristen Welker will be reported to the FCC after she described his primary endorsement record as mixed results.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.