Now it’s Tom Lamas’ turn to take on the Super Bowl tradition of conducting a pregame interview with the President of the United States.
Llamas, an anchor for “NBC Nightly News,” is scheduled to have an exclusive interview with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, February 4. Portions of the exchange will be broadcast on “NBC Nightly News” at 6:30 p.m. ET that day, and an expanded version will be streamed on “Top Stories with Tom Llamas,” a live streaming program that airs on NBC News Now at 7 p.m.
Another portion of the interview will air on NBC’s Super Bowl pregame show on Sunday, February 8th.
NBC’s response to “Get” highlights how much the news industry has changed. In previous years, Super Bowl pregame interviews received the most attention, followed by other segments of other programs with the support of news organizations that threatened access. But in an age when news doesn’t last very long, NBC News may feel obligated to share information as quickly as possible.
One reason for the different distribution order?Interviews became a more formal part of the Super Bowl ritual during the Obama administration, but have become less of a guarantee in recent years. President Trump avoided a program with NBC News in 2018, and President Joe Biden did not participate in a program with FOX in 2023 and CBS News in 2024. In hindsight, that decision may have had something to do with what appeared to be some decline in his public speaking abilities.
President Trump spoke with Fox News’ Bret Baier in a pre-recorded conversation that aired ahead of the Fox telecast of Super Bowl XI in 2025. President Joe Biden spoke with NBC’s Lester Holt in 2022.
Many television journalists describe Super Bowl interviews as one of the toughest assignments in television news. Over the years, prominent anchors such as Gayle King, Scott Pelley and Matt Lauer have interviewed presidents, all of which are broadcast live. “I would say this is the most important interview of my life,” Bill O’Reilly told Variety in 2017 in the hours leading up to his interview with President Trump before Fox’s Super Bowl LI broadcast. NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie interviewed President Obama in 2015 and told Variety that the process was “really messy.”
However, this is no longer the case during President Trump’s tenure. Almost all interviews these days are pre-recorded, giving news organizations the opportunity to edit what they say and decide how best to distribute it for different shows and different platforms, from streaming services to traditional TV.
