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Hours earlier President Trump's State of the Union address, House Speaker Mike Johnson told CBS News the U.S. system is connected the close way — but helium added that ostentation has not been "completely fixed yet."
In an interrogation Tuesday with "CBS Evening News," Johnson besides argued "we shouldn't freak out" astir the interaction of artificial intelligence connected jobs and urged the Iranian government to "follow communal sense" arsenic Mr. Trump weighs subject action.
Johnson says ostentation is "on the close trajectory," calls SCOTUS tariff ruling a "surprise"
Johnson expects Mr. Trump to walk portion of his code Tuesday nighttime touting his economical record, including "the breathtaking facts astir what we've been capable to accomplish."
In caller months, the president has celebrated the country's economical show successful his archetypal twelvemonth connected the job, including a slowdown successful inflation and a strong labour market.
Recent polls amusement astir voters aren't truthful optimistic. Just 37% of Americans consciousness that the authorities of the system is good, and 60% consciousness that Mr. Trump makes prices and inflation dependable amended than they really are, according to a CBS News survey released Tuesday.
Johnson argued that Republicans "inherited a existent mess" erstwhile Mr. Trump returned to bureau past year, calling the authorities of the system a "disaster" during the Biden administration.
"Now, it takes a portion to reverse that trend," helium said. "You don't flip a power close aft the predetermination and it each conscionable is fixed magically."
Johnson noted that ostentation is "gradually coming down." Consumer prices roseate 2.4% successful the yearlong play ending successful January, and ostentation has consistently hovered astatine 3% oregon beneath since mid-2024 — good beneath its highest of 9.1% successful mid-2022.
"It's not wholly fixed yet, but we are connected the close trajectory," the talker said.
He besides pointed to the taxation savings that many U.S. households volition draw from the Trump-backed "big, beauteous bill" that passed past summer.
But a halfway portion of Mr. Trump's economical docket — tariffs — faced a large ineligible setback past week, when the Supreme Court ruled that galore of the president's sweeping planetary import duties are unlawful. Mr. Trump called the decision an "embarrassment" and rapidly announced caller impermanent planetary tariffs nether a antithetic ineligible authority.
Those caller tariffs expire successful 150 days unless Congress takes enactment to widen them. House Republicans are divided connected Mr. Trump's commercialized strategy, with some GOP lawmakers joining with Democrats to ballot successful favour of rolling backmost immoderate of the tariffs earlier this month.
Johnson called the precocious court's ruling "a surprise" and "a large irritation to the president," and said it's "inarguable that the president's attack to commercialized argumentation has worked for the country." He pointed to the commercialized deals that Mr. Trump has chopped with galore U.S. trading partners.
Tariffs are controversial: Mr. Trump argues they're indispensable to revive U.S. manufacturing and deed backmost against unfair commercialized practices by overseas countries, but galore economists pass they volition pb to slower economical maturation and higher prices arsenic importers walk the outgo connected to consumers.
Last year, the U.S. imported $1.24 trillion much goods than it exported, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, marking the widest commercialized shortage for goods connected record. And manufacturing employment has shrunk somewhat implicit the past year.
Johnson disputed those figures, and said: "America is backmost successful galore ways, and the system is starring connected that. Are we wherever we request to be? No. But are we connected the close trajectory? Absolutely. It's an nonstop reversal of what we had nether 4 years of Bidenomics."
The talker said helium expects the president to stress "that we request patience connected this. Again, you don't flip a power aft an predetermination and hole everything overnight."
Johnson: "We shouldn't freak out" astir AI
For galore Americans, the imaginable interaction of artificial quality connected the system is simply a longer-term stressor. Some 62% of U.S. adults said successful a CBS News poll earlier this period that they expect AI to alteration the availability of jobs. Meanwhile, galore AI proponents believe the technology could trigger an economical roar by boosting idiosyncratic productivity.
Johnson said "we shouldn't freak out" astir AI, predicting the U.S. volition find a way done immoderate disruptions.
"We're precise vigilant astir this, precise sober-minded," helium said. "But we don't worry. We're not successful fear. We are [a] large country. We'll fig this out, and we volition enactment up of China."
He besides said helium wants Congress to enactment connected a "federal framework" for AI information rules, alternatively than allowing a "50-state patchwork" of idiosyncratic — and sometimes conflicting — regulations. The Trump medication has sought to block definite state-level AI rules.
Speaker backs Trump connected immigration, but says there's a "perception" that enforcement was "overzealous"
When Mr. Trump entered bureau past year, migration was one of his astir favorable issues, with astir voters backing his wide deportation efforts. Illegal crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border person plummeted implicit the past year, and the number of migration detainees has jumped.
But nationalist sentiment has turned successful caller months, peculiarly successful airy of a crackdown successful Minneapolis, with much Americans present worried that migration agents are going excessively far.
Asked astir polling connected immigration, Johnson said "there's a cognition retired determination that it was overzealous, successful immoderate respect. But the president's volition has ever been to escaped the state of unsafe transgression illegals. That's what they've accomplished."
Johnson lauded White House borderline czar Tom Homan, who was dispatched to instrumentality implicit the Minneapolis migration cognition aft the fatal shooting of 2 U.S. citizens by national agents drew bipartisan pushback. Homan began winding down the surge successful the metropolis earlier this month.
"I deliberation Tom Homan has done a large job, erstwhile helium went into Minneapolis, for example, and helium brought calm to the situation, and restored communal sense," Johnson siad.
Johnson hopes Iranian authorities volition "follow communal sense"
This year's State of the Union volition instrumentality spot amid a diplomatic scramble implicit Iran. Mr. Trump is weighing subject strikes against Iran unless the state agrees to curb its atomic program.
Asked if helium would enactment striking Iran, Johnson said the president has "emphasized the request for a diplomatic solution," and "we're hopeful that the leaders of Iran volition travel communal sense." He added that helium doesn't expect U.S. forces connected the ground, though.
He said a "stabilized portion successful the Middle East is surely successful America's interest," calling Iran "the large agitator" successful the country and a "sponsor of violent organizations astir the world."
"They're an evil regime, they hatred America, they would similar to termination each Americans," Johnson said. "They are an avowed force of us. If they were taken out, if that was changed, it would payment America, it would payment the world."
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