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Below is a transcript of key portions of the conversation:
DOKOUPIL: “What can the president say tonight to change that? What can he do with Congress to fix it?”
Johnson: “I think you’ll continue to hear the president sharing the exciting facts about what we’ve been able to accomplish after his first year of his second term. Remember, we inherited a real mess, the Biden-Harris economy was a disaster. We had the highest inflation in 40 years. We had paychecks were getting smaller, taxes were getting higher. We reversed literally all of that. Now, it takes a while to reverse that trend. You don’t flip a switch right after the election and it all just is fixed magically.”
When Dokoupil pressed Johnson on grocery prices—still 20% higher than during the Biden administration—Johnson said the overall trajectory shows improvement. “Inflation is gradually coming down. It’s not completely fixed yet, but we are on the right trajectory. Wages are going up. We have the lowest gas prices we’ve had in many years. Under Biden, for example, with gas prices, they hit a peak of $4.99 a gallon and the national average was about $3 for most of his term. The president reversed that. It’s the result of policy changes that have made this possible.”
Johnson highlighted Republican tax policies designed to benefit working families, calling them “seismic in nation shaping as it is.” “We infused it with pro-growth policies. And that legislation, seismic in nation shaping as it is, was written for lower and middle class earners. So they’re beginning to feel that relief. It’s going to result and is already resulting in bigger tax refunds for people as they file their taxes this year, bigger paychecks that will be coming. The estimate is $10,000 per citizen on average that they’ll have more money in their pockets because of the Republican policies that have been implemented and signed into law by President Trump. So we’re on the right trajectory.”
On the topic of immigration, Dokoupil noted Trump’s campaign promises to secure the border and deport illegal immigrants. Johnson defended the administration’s efforts, saying, “Well, there’s a perception out there that it was overzealous in some respect, but the president’s intention has always been to rid the country of dangerous criminal illegals. That’s what they’ve accomplished.”
Asked if public opinion reflected merely a perception, Johnson praised Tom Homan’s approach to immigration enforcement. “I think Tom Homan has done a great job when he went into Minneapolis, for example, and he brought calm to the situation and restored common sense. Immigration reform has to be done in a smart, strategic way. We have to follow the law. That’s what the American people demand. The polling is still high on removing people who are here illegally and causing harm to our communities, and that’s been a top priority. They’ve done it well. I think Tom Homan’s brought a steady hand to that issue, and Minneapolis is a great example of that, how we did it in short order. And of course, we removed the extra agents from there now because it was mission accomplished. Tom brings 40 years of experience to the job. He’s been awarded by Democrat presidents and Republican presidents alike. And that’s the kind of steady hand, I think, that you’ll see going forward.”
WATCH:
Speaker Johnson’s remarks paint a picture of a nation slowly recovering under Republican policies after years of economic turmoil, while signaling that immigration enforcement remains a key priority for the Trump administration.
