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Who knows why President-elect Donald Trump agreed to an interview this weekend with NBC’s Kristen Welker, a wild conspiracy theorist. But so long as it’s going to happen, it’s at least possible for Welker to make it productive and not a waste of everyone’s time.

If not for Trump’s electoral victory last month, we know how this would go. Welker would conduct a taped and edited interview (always a mistake for Republicans to agree to participate in), and the bulk of the time would be spent “fact-checking” (meaning Welker would insert her own opinions and get the last word). It would be a trifling affair that served no purpose other than for Welker to remain in good standing with her peers in Washington. That might still happen, but if she wants it to be productive, there are some things she can do.

Welker can first avoid any and all topics related to Joe Biden, his adult son Hunter, and Kamala Harris. The election is over, Trump trounced you all, and those controversies are now the Democrats’ problem. Trump is surely willing to share thoughts on all of it — what won’t he talk about? — but there’s no point in spending time on yesterday’s news. Asking him for the 2 billionth time if he plans on using the Justice Department to settle scores with his opponents (if only he would) isn’t going to render a meaningful answer. Maybe he will — he’s entitled to — and maybe he won’t.

Second, Welker can abandon all efforts to “fact-check,” a misnomer that in reality refers to a TV person’s tendency to assert her own preference as fact rather than accept an interview subject’s answer as a legitimate position on a topic in contention. The interviewer is not the star of the show. The person who just survived multiple assassination attempts and achieved the greatest political comeback in American history is the star. Let him talk. Voters decided they like what they hear.

Lastly, there’s a theory that it’s possible to ask Trump open-ended questions about problems Americans care about and allow him to answer at length without interruptions. It’s never been tested on network TV before, but maybe Welker can give it a shot. Voters chose Trump for a second time to address their woes, of which there are many. And they made that choice once again despite a news media that relentlessly decried him as a fascist, a racist, and a rapist.

Their hope is that he can deliver, though whether he can remains an open question. He has yet to be sworn in. When he is, what’s the plan? What are his immediate plans for unilateral action? What does he want Republicans in Congress to push to his desk in his first 100 days? What steps will he take to quickly restabilize Europe and the Middle East? What economic deals are on the docket with foreign leaders?

In short, it would be nice if Welker conducted an interview with an incoming president instead of staging a confrontation that will tickle her peers. Her inclination is probably to waste the opportunity, but maybe there’s hope.

Eddie Scarry is the D.C. columnist at The Federalist and author of “Liberal Misery: How the Hateful Left Sucks Joy Out of Everything and Everyone.”