Fox News’ Bret Baier Finally Lands His Trump Interview

On Wednesday evening, Fox News aired an interview that’s been years in the making. Special Report host Bret Baier told The Hollywood Reporter back in September that his team was scheduling an interview with President Trump that he had lobbied for since the election. “Hopefully it’s going to come together here in the next couple of weeks,” Baier said at the time.

The interview ended up taking far more than a “couple of weeks” to come together. Baier got some time with the president this week on Air Force One, before his plane took off following his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump, sitting in front of the plane’s official seal, told Baier that “even non-Trump fans” are happy with how the summit went. Discussing North Korea’s pledge to denuclearize, Trump said, “To me, it’s a success when it gets done.”

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He also said he’d “love” to remove U.S. troops from South Korea, though he said “it’s not on the table right now.”

Baier pressed Trump on his praise for Kim, saying the North Korean dictator is a “killer.” When Baier said Kim “has done some really bad things,” Trump responded that “a lot of other people” have also done really bad things.

The long-awaited interview, one of four Trump gave following his meeting with Kim, is a triumph for the well-respected anchor — though Fox News public relations did not respond to a request to speak with Baier about the journey. Back in January, Baier said at an industry event that Trump had told him privately, at events, that the interview would happen “very soon.”

Baier, who sees himself as a down-the-center newsman, is an important counterweight for the network to opinion hosts like Sean Hannity who are seen as informal supporters and boosters of the president. Hannity’s interview with the president aired Wednesday night.