4 Hours of President Prabowo Interview, from TNI Bill to Trump Tariffs

Taking place in the library room of his private residence at the Garuda Yaksa Hambalang Padepokan, Bogor Regency, West Java Province, Sunday (6/4/2025), President Prabowo Subianto met with a number of editors-in-chief. Moderated by Valerina Daniel from TVRI, President Prabowo chatted for four hours, and answered various questions from the editors-in-chief.

The editor-in-chiefs are: Kompas Daily Editor-in-Chief Sutta Dharmasaputra, Detikcom Editor-in-Chief Alfito Deannova Gintings, SCTV-Indosiar Editor-in-Chief Retno Pinasti, TV One Editor-in-Chief Lalu Mara Satriawangsa, IDN Times Editor-in-Chief Uni Lubis, and Narasi Najwa Founder Shihab.

President Prabowo also mentioned the moment of the interview through his Instagram account. "Thank you for the opportunity given in today's interview. I hope the answers and explanations I provided can be well-received and serve as complete and clear information for everyone," he stated.

Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital Angga Raka Prabowo stated that this meeting was directly initiated by President Prabowo and serves as a follow-up to the meeting with editors-in-chief held on February 22.

Moreover, after approximately 130 days of the administration's work, there have been many requests from the media for an interview with Prabowo. "The President then (said) it seems it is time for an interview and to address many of the issues that have been developing," said Angga.

According to him, the President also wants to convey the matters that have been accomplished during 130 days in office. "This concept emerged. Instead of waiting one by one, why not have the President meet with seven journalists at once today? We say bismillah, hopefully, it provides answers," said Angga.

Najwa Shihab considers the opportunity to converse and ask questions directly with the president to be a valuable chance for anyone, especially the media. "Journalists always strive to obtain confirmation and information from an A1 source, the number one person," she said.

The interview duration, which was initially scheduled for only about two hours, was extended. "We see that the time given is very generous from (starting) the recording at 09.00 to almost 13.00," said Najwa.

The questions posed by the editors were also varied. "And interestingly, from the beginning, there were no restrictions on what could be asked. Feel free. The only thing regulated was roughly the format mechanism because there were indeed six journalists and one moderator from TVRI," he said.

President Prabowo also did not mind when the editors asked follow-up questions to the answers that had already been given.

"For instance, when I asked about the Police Bill, even though the moderator tried to interrupt, the President said, 'It's okay, go ahead, just ask.' It's a pity when we try to confirm an important issue and don't get a complete answer, even though we are directly asking the number one person in Indonesia," said Najwa.

The opportunity to ask follow-up questions allows for an in-depth look at an issue. "Although I know there must be some who are not satisfied, want it to be longer, more in-depth, and so on. But as a start, I think this could be an early tradition that can be continued, opening up an opportunity for the media to meet and ask questions directly to the President," he added.

Spontaneity colored the meeting because questions were asked directly at that time. "So, Mr. Prabowo did not know. Mas Angga, Deputy Minister of Komdigi, who arranged this interview, we also did not tell. In fact, our fellow journalists did not know what the others would ask," said Najwa.

In addition, there is an agreement that once a question has been asked, the next questioner must "move on" to another question because there are so many issues that need to be asked. As a result, throughout the discussion there was a diversification of questions, ranging from demonstrations rejecting the revision of the TNI Law, minimal public participation in the legislative process, the National Police Bill, to President Donald Trump's tariff policy.

"Earlier I asked Mas Angga whether this would be the standard format. It will be evaluated of course. But in the future, the opportunity for the media to ask questions directly, to talk to the president, will continue to be open," said Najwa.

Each media certainly has different priorities and target audiences. Media specializing in arts or sports, for example, are certainly interested in the needs of their readers. The more varied the media involved in the meeting with the president, the more diverse the perspectives obtained from the number one person in this country.

"I believe that the more open and transparent it is, the more the public can be involved in the decision-making process. Because the key is to ensure public involvement. Including listening to criticism, input, conveyed by the media and captured by the public," said Najwa.

Meanwhile, Uni Lubis said that almost all the "hot" themes at the moment were asked about.

"But the highlight that I think is interesting, we were not asked what we wanted to ask. So, the president did not know what he wanted to ask, including what he wanted to criticize. I think that's a good thing because there are still sources who like to ask questions first. Meanwhile, President Prabowo is ready to be asked any questions. Ready to be criticized, ready to be challenged back for his answers," said Uni.

According to Uni, all questions were answered quite completely. "Whether the answers are satisfactory or not, we who ask have our own measurements. But I think this is a good step to illustrate the openness of President Prabowo's government," he said.

Uni said, President Prabowo acknowledged that there was a problem in public communication. "It seems that the person who delivered the communication, one, is a new person, has no understanding of public communication. And, two, does not directly know the decision-making process that has consequences for the public. Well, this, right, we can ask and be answered directly by the President," he said.

So will meetings like this become a tradition?

"Yes, earlier Deputy Minister Komdigi Angga said that apparently the President liked the interaction earlier. Even though there were criticisms. And he hopes that (in) 1 month, 3 months, this discussion with the media will be carried out," said Uni.

Sutta Dharmasaputra said, at the beginning of the meeting, the President first explained the achievements that had been achieved by the Prabowo-Gibran government in 130 days or since taking the oath of office and taking office as president-vice president on October 20, 2024. Then each editor-in-chief was given the opportunity to ask questions.

Questions asked include geoeconomics related to President Trump's tariff policy. Then there are domestic issues, namely political and economic issues.

"The political issue is more about how the government communicates to all stakeholders in this country, which is still considered to have many shortcomings," said Sutta.

The scope of economic issues ranges from job creation to the role of the private sector in the future. "Mr. Prabowo, we know, has a paradigm that the state must control the branches of production and make a big contribution to the public, the wider community. This means that the role of the state becomes very large. Therefore, many efforts by the state to improve the welfare of the community were explored, starting from MBG (Free Nutritious Meals), CKG (free health checks), the establishment of schools," said Sutta.

Likewise, the discussion was about Danantara, cooperatives, and also the role of the private sector, cooperatives, and MSMEs.

There is also another issue regarding law enforcement. The President has repeatedly said that a developed country is one that is free from corruption. "Our question is: how does the president enforce the rule of law in this country, starting from law enforcement officers and also the bureaucracy. The President also conveyed these things," said Sutta.

No less important, the editor-in-chief also asked about matters related to democracy. "How did the president respond to the concerns of civil society, and so on. There were various demonstrations so large, then there were actions by the apparatus that were quite repressive, what was that like," said Sutta.

Finally, the discussion also focused on sports concerning the chances of the Indonesian national team in the future. "There the president answered openly and spontaneously. Nothing was prepared in detail, because our questions were also spontaneous," said Sutta.

How is the complete interview with President Prabowo? Follow the next complete article from the results of the interview with President Prabowo on Kompas.id and Harian Kompas.