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By Jordan King
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President Donald Trump marked the six-month milestone of his return to the White House with a wide-ranging interview conducted by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, on her eponymous Fox News show, My View with Lara Trump.
In the conversation, Trump touted what he sees as record-breaking successes for the U.S., from an investment boom to a major crackdown on illegal immigration, while also reflecting on challenges like a near-fatal assassination attempt and a devastating natural disaster.
Here are five key takeaways.
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'Hottest Country in the World'
Trump said repeatedly that his administration has broken multiple records, saying that other countries had told him the U.S. was "the hottest country in the world."
He told how when he was with "the king of Saudi Arabia, the leader of Qatar, the leader of the UAE and many of the leaders at NATO" told him "separately" and "as a group": "You have the hottest country in the world right now."
"And, six months ago they also said 'we thought your country was dead,'" Trump continued. "They actually thought it was dead. And it felt dead. We not only had no leadership, we had negative leadership."
Trump went on to say he has already "taken care of inflation," energy, fuel and "so many other things."
U.S. inflation has indeed fallen significantly from the 40-year high it reached in mid-2022, but this downward trend began well before Trump took office. And consumer prices were still 2.4 percent higher in May than a year earlier, and core inflation is running at 2.8 percent—both above the Federal Reserve's two percent target.
Energy and fuel prices have also moderated compared to their 2022 peaks: for example, the energy price index in May was 3.5 percent lower than a year prior. Analysts note these improvements are the result of global market dynamics and earlier policy actions, not simply a new administration's efforts.
In the first quarter of 2025, the U.S. economy experienced a mild contraction, with real GDP shrinking by 0.5 percent on an annualized basis. This marked a significant slowdown following solid growth in 2024, when the economy expanded by approximately 2.8 percent. Forecasts for the full year now predict only modest growth of around 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent, according to estimates from the IMF and private analysts. The deceleration is largely attributed to heightened trade tensions, new tariffs, and uncertainty around U.S. trade policy, along with tighter monetary and fiscal conditions.
Border Boasts
One of Trump's major campaign promises was to carry out mass deportation and secure the border.
He said his administration has taken on this "big job, getting thousands, hundreds of thousands of criminals out of our country."
Trump also suggested that former President Joe Biden had let "11,888 murderers" into the country.
There is no evidence for this figure. An ICE letter cited in similar claims listed 13,099 non-citizens convicted of homicide who were not in ICE detention as of July 2024—a docket that spans four decades and includes people who entered legally. Homeland Security says "the vast majority" of those individuals entered long before the Biden administration.
When Newsweek contacted the White House to ask where this figure came from, spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said: "Joe Biden opened our Southern Border and let countless unvetted, criminal illegal aliens invade American communities. The Trump Administration is working at hyper-speed to get these illegal murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members out of our country to make America safe again!"
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'A Very Dangerous Job Being President'
Trump's interview coincided with the anniversary of the first assassination attempt against him while he was on the campaign trail.
He was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania, when 20-year-old Michael Thomas Crooks took eight shots at him, grazing Trump's ear, killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore and wounding two others before a Secret Service sniper killed Crooks.
Trump called the day "unforgettable" and went on to praise the Secret Service sniper who shot dead Crooks.
"He really did a fantastic, his name is David, and he did a fantastic job," the president said. "He got him perfectly. From a very long distance, so we got a little bit lucky in that regard."
When asked about all the questions surrounding that day, and how Crooks was able to carry out such an operation at an event that should have been highly secure, Trump said he is "satisfied."
"They briefed me and I'm satisfied with it," Trump said. "They should have had someone in the building, that was a mistake, they should have had communications with the local police—they weren't tied in—and they should have been tied in. So there were mistakes made. And that shouldn't have happened."
"But I was satisfied in terms of the bigger plot, the larger plot," he continued, "I have great confidence in these people. They're very talented and very capable—they had a bad day, I think they'll admit that."
"This is a very dangerous job being president," Trump added before saying that being president is more dangerous than being a race car driver or a bull rider.
"But I wouldn't have made a different decision because we're doing so well, the country is back," he said.
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Texas Floods: 'Maybe They Should Have Had Bells'
Trump was asked about the recent Texas floods which killed at least 129 people, according to the latest death toll, including 27 children and staff attending an all-girl summer camp called Camp Mystic, on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
He said "there can be nothing worse than losing a child," especially given "the way this happened."
Trump described the grieving parents as "devastated" and said that this "tragedy in particular" was "so sad to see."
He went on to say that there had been "very early warning." "They warned the day before, they even warned two days before, they warned four hours before."
"Maybe they should have had bells or something go off," Trump added.
One Big Beautiful Bill: 'It's So Big and So Good'
Trump was asked when people can expect to see the benefits promised in the One Big Beautiful Bill, which narrowly passed the House earlier this month.
"They're already seeing them," Trump said. "Because of that bill, we're having investment in this country that nobody's ever seen."
"We're up to close to $15 trillion," he said. "Other administrations—they wouldn't do that in four years."
The White House's own non-comprehensive public tally of investments comes to roughly $6.6 trillion, as of June 13, all before the One Big Beautiful Bill existed.
Trump went on to say he had told Republicans to "speak positively" about the bill "because it's so big and so good" and "the Democrats, they only do one thing good and that's complain."
He dismissed Democrats' claims that the bill will lead to deaths as "sound bites."
"It's not gonna cause death, it's gonna keep people alive," Trump said. "And it's gonna make our country successful."
A study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and City University of New York Hunter College said the cuts to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill could increase the number of annual deaths in the U.S. by more than 16,500 and leave 7.6 million more Americans without health insurance.
Update 7/14/25, 5:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the White House.
Update, 7/14/25, 8:06 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information
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