Assistance from Claude AI.
Summary
President Donald Trump convened his final Cabinet meeting of 2025 to tout what he called “the most consequential and successful first year of any administration,” claiming over $18 trillion in new investment commitments compared to less than $1 trillion during the entire Biden administration. The wide-ranging meeting covered dramatic prescription drug price reductions through the Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy, border security achievements including six months of zero illegal crossings, major trade deals restructuring decades of trade policy, and the controversial naval strikes against drug trafficking vessels near Venezuela. Cabinet members reported achievements across departments while Trump criticized Democrats’ “affordability” messaging as a “con job,” arguing his administration inherited the worst inflation in history and has successfully brought prices down, particularly for energy and food.
Meeting Participants
- Donald J. Trump – President of the United States
- JD Vance – Vice President
- Susie Wiles – White House Chief of Staff (first female Chief of Staff in U.S. history)
- Pete Hegseth – Secretary of War (Department renamed from Defense)
- Howard Lutnick – Secretary of Commerce
- Scott Bessent – Secretary of Treasury
- Sean Duffy – Secretary of Transportation
- Doug Collins – Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Jamieson Greer – U.S. Trade Representative
- Scott Turner – Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Brooke Rollins – Secretary of Agriculture
- Pam Bondi – Attorney General
- Lori Chavez-DeRemer – Secretary of Labor
- Chris Wright – Secretary of Energy
- Kristi Noem – Secretary of Homeland Security
- Kelly Loeffler – Administrator, Small Business Administration
- Tulsi Gabbard – Director of National Intelligence
- Lee Zeldin – Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
- Linda McMahon – Secretary of Education
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Doug Burgum – Secretary of Interior
- Marco Rubio – Secretary of State
- Russ Vought – Director, Office of Management and Budget (unidentified in transcript but contextually evident)
Detailed Topic-by-Topic Breakdown
Economic Claims and Investment Achievements
Trump opened the meeting by declaring 2025 “the most consequential and successful first year of any administration,” a characterization he acknowledged came from others but that he agreed with. He presented dramatic investment figures as evidence of economic transformation.
Investment Numbers: Trump claimed that in just 10 months, his administration secured “commitments of over $18 trillion” in new investments, compared to “less than $1 trillion” over four years under the Biden administration. He emphasized this was “a record times probably eight or 10 times” any country in history and that “there’s never been a country that’s had half of that.”
Context for readers: These investment figures represent commitments from companies to build facilities and operations in the United States, not direct government spending. Such commitments can include planned investments over multiple years and may be subject to change based on economic conditions.
Stock Market Performance: Trump noted the stock market had set “46 all-time highs” and highlighted that Black Friday 2025 was “the biggest ever online sales that there’s ever been by a lot.” He stated that “more Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later elaborated on the economic outlook, projecting that investment commitments would climb even higher by year’s end. He emphasized that “capital expenditures up 15 percent in history” signals a “CapEx boom for the US” that will translate into job growth. Bessent called 2026 “the year for Main Street” as tax cuts and deregulation take full effect.
Prescription Drug Pricing Revolution
One of Trump’s most detailed policy discussions centered on dramatic reductions in prescription drug prices through the Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy, which he described as “the single biggest thing we’ve ever done that nobody writes about.”
The MFN Policy Explained: Trump explained that under this policy, the United States pays the same price for prescription drugs as other developed nations, rather than significantly higher prices. He recounted that when he initially proposed this, “no nation agreed to do it.” His solution: “I said to the nations, if you’re not going to do it, I’m going to charge you 100 percent tariff, which is more money than we’re talking about. And they said, sir, we’d love to do it, please, we would be honored to do it.”
Dramatic Price Examples: Trump used weight-loss medications (he called them “the fat drug”) as a case study. He claimed these drugs cost “$1,300 in New York” but only “$135” in London. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., serving as HHS Secretary, confirmed the administration reduced the price to “around $125, $150” – approximately a 90% reduction.
Trump stated: “We have reduced drug prices by 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 percent depending on the drug, depending on the company, depending on all of the different factors involved.” He contrasted this with his first term when he was “so proud” to achieve “one quarter of one percent” reduction in drug prices – “the first time in 28 years that drug prices were reduced.”
RFK Jr.’s Report: Kennedy provided additional context on the MFN implementation, reporting that agreements have been reached with “the five biggest pharmaceutical companies” with “12 more in the lineup.” He projected that “by the time this administration leaves office, 95 percent of the drugs in this country will be – we will have the lowest price of any nation in the developed world.”
Kennedy also noted that Howard Lutnick (Commerce) and Jamieson Greer (Trade Representative) “made a bargain with Great Britain to raise their drug prices” to balance U.S. reductions, thereby maintaining “the ecosystem of innovation and protect innovation.”
Context for readers: The MFN policy represents a fundamental shift in pharmaceutical pricing. For decades, Americans have paid significantly more for prescription drugs than citizens of other developed nations, with pharmaceutical companies arguing that higher U.S. prices fund research and development. The policy aims to equalize prices across nations while maintaining innovation incentives.
Tax Policy and the “Great Big Beautiful Bill”
Trump celebrated passage of what he called “the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill,” which he described as “the largest tax cuts in American history” and “the biggest piece of legislation ever signed.”
Key Provisions: The legislation includes:
- Extension of the original Trump tax cuts
- No tax on tips
- No tax on overtime
- No tax on Social Security benefits
- Full deductibility for American-made cars (retroactive benefit)
Trump emphasized that if someone buys a car, “you get” full deductibility, calling this “great for our car industry because we have a lot of car plants.”
Future Tax Relief: Looking ahead, Trump declared: “I believe that at some point in the not too distant future, you won’t even have income tax to pay because the money we’re taking in is so great” from tariffs. He suggested income tax might be eliminated entirely or “kept around for fun” at “much lower” rates.
Tax Refund Projections: Trump announced that “next year is projected to be the largest tax refund season ever” and promised “we’re going to be giving back refunds out of the tariffs because we’ve taken in literally trillions of dollars and we’re going to be giving a nice dividend to the people, in addition to reducing debt.”
Bessent’s Analysis: Treasury Secretary Bessent emphasized that the bill, passed on July 4th (which “everyone said was impossible”), benefits both industry through “100 percent expensing” for factories and working people through the four major provisions. He projected that “in 2026, we are going to see very substantial tax refunds in the first quarter,” calling it “the best way to address the affordability crisis” by giving “Americans more money in their pockets.”
Border Security and Immigration Enforcement
Trump presented border security as one of his administration’s signature achievements, claiming to have transformed “the worst border crisis in world history” into “the strongest border in the history of our country.”
Zero Crossings Claim: The most striking claim was that “for six months in a row, zero illegal aliens have been admitted into the United States.” Trump stated: “We had millions of people coming in a year, millions. Now we have zero for six months.” He emphasized these numbers come from “radical left people that do the numbers” who are “not doing me any favor.”
Historical Context: Trump argued: “There was never a border that was as bad as our border. We allowed anybody in with no checks, no vetting” under the previous administration. He thanked Border Patrol, ICE, and the military for their role in securing the border.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reported that “two million people have gone home already. People that were here illegally, you’ve removed from our country and sent home.” She announced the department will “hire our 10,000th ICE officer will be on the job within 10 days,” representing massive expansion of enforcement capacity.
Criminal Removals: Trump repeatedly cited the statistic of “11,888 murderers” who had entered the country under the previous administration. Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized focus on removing dangerous criminals first, though Trump clarified “mostly the bad ones” are targeted for removal, “and there are a lot of them.”
HUD’s Role: HUD Secretary Scott Turner reported on efforts to secure public housing, stating that HUD established a “crime hotline” for residents to report “criminal activity,” “illegals living there,” and “drug trafficking.” He emphasized: “We prioritize American people and American people only.”
Context for readers: The “zero illegal crossings” claim represents a dramatic statistical assertion. Immigration experts and fact-checkers would typically examine such claims against data from Customs and Border Protection, which tracks “encounters” at the border. The distinction between people “admitted” versus those encountered and turned away is important for understanding these statistics.
Trade Policy Transformation
Multiple Cabinet members described what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “the most transformational year in American foreign policy since the end of the Second World War” with regard to trade.
Historical Context: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed the shift: “We set out to stop the rip-off of the United States of America. This is about global change of trade. We’ve been ripped off since 1945 when we set this policy.”
Major Trade Deals Announced:
United Kingdom: Lutnick described an “asymmetric” deal where “they pay us 10 percent, and we get charged nothing. That allows us to export.”
European Union: The largest deal involved “450 million people, $20 trillion economy. They completely open their borders to us, and we charge them 15 percent. That makes America $100 billion a year and turns it back to where our economy is the best.”
Japan and Korea: Lutnick reported these nations “offer us $750 billion in cash to build in America.” He detailed specific projects: “We’re going to build hundreds of billions of dollars financed by the Japanese and the Koreans, meaning they give us the money, we build it here and we split the cash flow 50/50.”
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer explained the philosophical shift: “For about 75 years, we had a system – global trading system that was premised on the United States having totally open borders, not just on immigration but on goods and services and everyone else generally kept higher tariffs.” He stated the administration has spent “10 months… going around the world and flipping the script.”
Agricultural Benefits: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins celebrated recent trade developments, particularly China’s announcement halting “all purchases from Brazil because they had found some irregularities in some of the soybeans they’re buying from Brazil.” This benefits American farmers by opening Chinese markets. Trump thanked “President Xi” for “among the largest orders in the history of your world, agriculture.”
Auto Industry Impact: Lutnick reported that “25 percent tariffs bring it all home” for auto manufacturing. He claimed General Motors’ stock rose 40 percent and Ford up 34 percent. He recounted that Shawn Fain, head of the United Auto Workers, called to say “this is the greatest administration for auto workers in America.”
Energy Prices and Policy
Trump made energy affordability a central economic argument, contrasting current prices with the Biden administration.
Gasoline Prices: Trump stated: “We’re now at about $2.50 a gallon. We’re going to be, I think, at $2 a gallon. We could even crack that at some point.” He noted that “20 states… are now selling gasoline at less than the $2.75” and contrasted this with “$5 under Sleepy Joe.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright provided state-by-state detail, noting that “a number of stations in the heartland of America with $1.99 signs flying today.” He contrasted this with California where “the average price of gasoline is between $4.50 and $5 a gallon today” due to “bad political leaders” and “bad policies” plus high taxes.
Electricity Prices: Wright addressed the slower-moving but significant issue of electricity costs, which saw “roughly 30 percent rise in the average price of electricity across this country” recently. He promised that “everything we are doing together is going to reverse that, not just stop the rises, but start a downward trajectory in electricity prices.”
Wright presented a comparative analysis of state policies: North Dakota under Governor Doug Burgum saw electricity demand grow 35 percent over five years while prices “went down.” In contrast, California, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maryland “produce less electricity than they did five years ago” despite “a lot of spending money,” resulting in “much faster rises in the price of electricity.” He concluded: “Blue states have had one and a half times faster rise in electricity prices than red states.”
Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Trump criticized the Biden administration for emptying “the strategic national reserves” before the election, which “are really meant for something else. They’re not meant to keep people happy with their gasoline prices. They’re meant for war.”
Green New Deal Termination: Trump declared: “I ended the Green New Scam” and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin confirmed: “The Green New scam is dead.”
Department of War and Military Readiness
Trump announced the Department of Defense has been renamed the Department of War, returning to its historical name. He stated: “I thought that would be controversial. And frankly, I’ll tell you what. I haven’t met one person – there’s not one person I’ve met that doesn’t like it.”
Secretary Pete Hegseth reported dramatic improvements in military readiness and morale:
Recruitment Success: “Recruiting and retention over this year are at the most historic levels our country has ever seen.” Hegseth stated: “We just had the highest recruitment in history. And we’re getting great people.”
Policy Changes: Hegseth emphasized that “we’ve ripped out the DEI and the political correctness, it’s all merit-based at the department. We’re getting back to basics, accountability, training readiness, lethality.”
Military Modernization: Hegseth mentioned briefings on “the Golden Dome and F-47 next generation capabilities” ensuring America maintains “the most powerful, most capable, most lethal military in the world.”
NATO Funding: Trump touted getting NATO members to commit to “5 percent” of GDP for defense spending, which “everybody said was never going to happen, it was impossible.”
Context for readers: The renaming of the Department of Defense to Department of War represents a symbolic shift. The department was originally called the Department of War from 1789 until 1947, when it was reorganized and renamed the Department of Defense as part of the National Security Act. The name change may signal a more aggressive military posture.
Drug Interdiction and Controversial Boat Strikes
The press conference portion focused heavily on controversial naval strikes against suspected drug trafficking vessels, which became a contentious topic.
Policy Overview: Trump stated: “We’ve designated these cartels as designated terrorist organizations” and authorized military action against them. He emphasized that “every boat that you see get blown up, we save 25,000, on average, lives” by preventing fentanyl and other drugs from reaching the U.S.
Statistics: Trump claimed drug trafficking by sea is “down 91 percent” and repeatedly stated that over 200,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the previous year. Hegseth added that “fentanyl flow over the southern border” has been cut “by over 56 percent” according to Noem.
The Controversial Second Strike: Press questioning focused on a September incident where a drug boat was struck twice. Hegseth explained he personally authorized the first strike after reviewing intelligence, stating: “I watched that first strike live.” However, he did not remain to observe the aftermath: “I didn’t stick around for the hour and two hours or whatever where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs. So I moved on to my next meeting.”
Hegseth defended the commander’s decision to strike the boat a second time to “ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat,” stating “it was the right call. We have his back.”
Press Criticism: Hegseth pushed back forcefully against media questioning: “You sit in your air-conditioned offices or up on Capitol Hill and you nitpick and you plant fake stories in the Washington Post… And then you want to throw out really irresponsible terms about American heroes, about the judgment that they made.”
Expansion of Operations: Trump announced plans to expand beyond maritime operations: “We’re going to start doing those strikes on land too. You know, the land is much easier, it’s much easier. And we know the routes they take, we know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live and we’re going to start that very soon too.”
He specifically mentioned Colombia: “I hear Colombia, the country of Colombia is making cocaine. They have cocaine manufacturing plants, OK, and then they sell us their cocaine. We appreciate that very much. But yeah, anybody that’s doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack.”
Context for readers: The use of military force against drug trafficking vessels represents a significant escalation in counter-narcotics policy. International law governing use of force typically requires specific circumstances or authorization, and strikes on land in other sovereign nations would raise additional legal and diplomatic questions. The administration is treating designated cartels as terrorist organizations subject to military action similar to how the U.S. treated al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Department-Specific Achievements
Veterans Affairs (Doug Collins): Collins reported eliminating a backlog of “over 160,000” cases, returning to pre-COVID performance levels. He announced plans for “a reorganization… to bring our hospital system organizationally in line with the 21st century.” He emphasized that 30,000 employees took early retirement, yet “every bit of the success that I just told you about came with a reduced workforce that was a motivated workforce.”
Transportation (Sean Duffy): Duffy reported completing “a third of this transition from copper to fiber” for air traffic control infrastructure, a project the previous administration said “would take more than 10 years.” He announced plans to “rebuild Penn Station in New York” with groundbreaking “at the end of 2027.”
Regarding commercial driver’s licenses, Duffy reported: “We’ve got California, Gavin Newsom to revoke 17,000 unlawfully issued licenses. We’ve closed down half of the… fake schools that give out these fake licenses.” He criticized Governor Tim Waltz of Minnesota for giving “33 percent of these licenses unlawfully.”
Trump elaborated on air traffic control problems, criticizing former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: “They take the fiber optics and they take fiber trying to hook it into copper and fiber and copper don’t mix. You can’t do it.” He announced a complete rebuild: “We’re doing a brand-new air traffic control system… we have the three top companies in the world bidding on it.”
Housing and Urban Development (Scott Turner): Turner emphasized making public housing safe, reporting HUD is “working with the Memphis Safe Task Force, the DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force” to root out “crime, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, illicit drugs, illegal aliens living in public housing.”
Turner announced HUD “supported over 1 million Americans in homeownership and affordability, and over 560,000 are first-time homebuyers.” He also reported moving HUD headquarters “from DC to Alexandria, Virginia” to “save the American people about $500 million.”
Agriculture (Brooke Rollins): Rollins detailed the economic challenges farmers face, noting that under the Biden administration, “interest rates for farmers and ranchers went up 73 percent, labor went up 47 percent, fertilizer went up 36 percent, fuel went up 28 percent.”
She announced aggressive action on SNAP (food stamp) fraud: after finding “186,000 dead people or dead people’s social security numbers being used, 500,000 people receiving benefits more than twice,” HUD requested all states share data. While 29 states (mostly red states) complied, 21 states (including California, New York, and Minnesota) refused. Rollins announced: “As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply.”
Labor (Lori Chavez-DeRemer): Chavez-DeRemer reported creating “over 2 million jobs” with most being “native born workers,” contrasting with the Biden administration where jobs were “mostly foreign born or federal government jobs.”
She highlighted the apprenticeship program with “1 million active apprentices across this country” and “over 250,000 new apprentices so far in the first year.” She announced launching “over 200 investigations into companies who… have abused and or fraudulently against the American worker” through Project Firewall.
Chavez-DeRemer reported that ending DEI compliance requirements has “saved American businesses nearly $1 billion this year.”
Justice Department (Pam Bondi): Bondi opened with an update on the two National Guard members attacked in Washington DC, reporting that one, Sarah, died while the other, Andy, “is doing well” and “is a miracle.”
Bondi reported making “over 7,000 arrests” in DC as part of the DC SAFE initiative and “over 3,500 arrests” in Memphis. She emphasized interagency cooperation with “HHS doctors and medics… on the ground to help people in Memphis and DC.”
Regarding federal law enforcement, Bondi reported: “FBI… 100 percent increase in the arrest of violent criminals,” “DEA… over 45 million fentanyl pills, 4,200 kilos fentanyl powder. That is the equivalent of… 347 million potential lethal doses,” and “ATF… has seized more than 31,000 illegal guns.”
Bondi noted the administration has been “sued 575 times – 575 times, more than every administration going back to Reagan combined,” but achieved “24 Supreme Court wins, 92 percent success rate.”
Small Business Administration (Kelly Loeffler): Loeffler reported that “small business optimism according to the US Chamber Index for Small Businesses has reached an all-time high in the history of that index.”
She announced SBA now manages “a $100 billion” portfolio – “$45 billion in small business lending at 85,000 small businesses, most of that under your term, and $52 billion out to small business investment companies.” She characterized SBA as “running this agency like the best run bank in the country.”
Intelligence Community (Tulsi Gabbard): Director of National Intelligence Gabbard (identified as “Kristi Noem” in transcript but contextually clearly Gabbard) reported “declassified over half a million documents, many of which had never been seen before by the American people” and formed “a weaponization working group” to expose “abuses of power.”
Environmental Protection Agency (Lee Zeldin): Zeldin reported visiting all 50 states and claimed EPA has “averaged a big environmental accomplishment every single day” since inauguration.
Zeldin touted “the largest deregulatory effort by any agency in the history of the United States,” stating: “In one year at one agency, we will do more deregulation than entire presidencies have done across all agencies.” He highlighted that “the proposed rescission of the 2009 Obama EPA endangerment finding amounts to the largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States of America.”
Zeldin reported EPA workforce reduction while “accomplishing more with less,” noting that “in 2024, the Biden EPA obligated and spent over $60 billion in one year” whereas “2025 at the Trump EPA… we have saved $30 billion.”
Education (Linda McMahon): McMahon called education “the greatest national emergency we could face,” citing that “only 30 percent of 12th graders, eighth graders and fourth graders… can read at proficiency level.”
McMahon explained the administration’s approach of returning education control to states through pilot programs: “We have already signed and implemented one MOU or interagency agreement” with the Department of Labor for “the WIOA program and the Perkins Grants.” She reported signing “two more with labor, one with HHS, one with the Department of State.”
McMahon announced Education now operates with “only half the workforce when we started and we’re more efficient.”
Health and Human Services (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.): Beyond the MFN drug pricing policy, Kennedy announced several major healthcare reforms:
Hormone Replacement Therapy: “Two weeks ago, we ended… a 20-year war on women by removing the black box warnings from hormone replacement therapy.” He cited that HRT “diminishes the risk of fatal heart attacks by 25 percent, cardiac disease by 50 percent, Alzheimer’s by 35 percent, bone fractures by 50 to 60 percent.”
Prior Authorization Elimination: Kennedy called ending prior authorization “the one innovation that we could do that would most dramatically improve the health care experience for the average American.” He reported convening “the largest insurance companies in this country” representing “280 million Americans” who agreed “by January of 2026, two months from now, to remove prior authorization for most of their procedures.”
Health Records Accessibility: Kennedy reported that after convening “400 leading companies,” all agreed “to remove all the blocks on sharing healthcare records. Every American will have their health care records available on their cell phones.” He stated: “In the last six months, there have been over 100 times the number of health care records shared by hospitals entering the entire previous administration.”
Deregulation: Kennedy announced “the revocation of the nursing home rule, which was overburdening rural areas across this country, Indian reservations… that is going to be a $25 billion savings.”
Interior (Doug Burgum): Burgum emphasized Interior’s role managing “500 million acres of surface, 700 million acres of subsurface, over 3 billion of offshore from Guam to the Virgin Islands.”
He announced a unique pricing strategy for national parks: “10 free days for our national parks next year to coincide with our holidays, but also a $100 surcharge for nonresidents. That is going to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for helping restore and preserve all of our parks.”
Burgum highlighted DC beautification efforts: “hundreds of homeless camps, thousands of graffiti sites, cleaning up ponds and fountains” to make Washington “the safest and most beautiful capital in the world.”
State Department (Marco Rubio): Rubio emphasized that Trump’s foreign policy represents the first time “in probably four decades” that “American foreign policy is driven by what is good for America and Americans.”
Rubio detailed the administration’s approach: “Does what you want us to do… is it going to make us stronger, is it going to make us richer, is it going to make us safer? If it is, he’s for it. If it’s not, he’s against it.”
On peace efforts, Rubio credited Trump personally with the Gaza ceasefire: “No other leader in the world could have pulled off what happened in Gaza… That deal doesn’t happen without the president’s direct interaction with the leaders that were involved in this decision making.”
Rubio emphasized ongoing peace efforts: “Even as we speak to you now, Steve Witkoff is in Moscow, trying to find a way to end this war to save lives of 8,000, 9,000 people… are dying every week” in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Regulatory Reform
Trump emphasized deregulation as a core achievement: “We’ve slashed $1 trillion in costly job-killing regulations, saving Americans an estimated $2,100 for a family of four.” He contrasted this with the Biden administration which “went up $6,000.”
Russ Vought (contextually identified as the unidentified speaker) reported on Office of Management and Budget progress: The deregulatory ratio increased from “30 to 1” to “48 to 1,” far exceeding Trump’s original goal of “10 to 1” (which itself exceeded the first term’s “6 to 1”).
Vought highlighted the Federal Acquisitions Regulations, which were reduced by “25 percent, 500 pages, 2,700 mandates” in just six months. He projected this will lead to “$40 billion” in savings “over the course of 10 years” and eventually “between $200 billion and $400 billion of competition” as more vendors bid on government contracts. He noted that “45 percent of government bids only have one bidder.”
The “Affordability” Debate
Trump used the meeting to directly attack Democratic messaging on affordability, calling it “a con job” and “a hoax.”
Trump’s Argument: “The word affordability is a Democrat scam. They say it and then they go on to the next subject, and everyone thinks, oh, they had lower prices. No, they had the worst inflation in the history of our country.”
He specifically criticized unnamed Democratic politicians: “I watched the other day where some very low IQ Congresswoman talked about affordability, affordability, affordability. She had no idea. Their prices were much higher.”
Price Reductions Claimed: Trump cited specific examples:
- Thanksgiving turkey: “down 33 percent” compared to Biden administration
- Egg prices: “way down, 86 percent”
- Grocery prices: Generally down
- Energy/gasoline: From “$5 under Sleepy Joe” to “$2.50” currently
Vice President JD Vance provided the statistical framework for the administration’s affordability argument: “Under the Biden administration, the average American family lost over $3,000 of household income and under the first 10 months of this Trump administration, they have gained over $1,000 of household income.”
Vance systematically attributed affordability problems to Biden-era policies: “Why did homes get so unaffordable, because we had 20 million illegal aliens in this country taking homes that ought by right to go to American citizens. Why did tax bills get so unaffordable, because Democrats were raising taxes… Why did food get so expensive, because we printed trillions of dollars and threw it into green scams.”
Trump defended his record on inflation: “We inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no affordability, nobody could afford anything. The prices were massively high… But we brought them down from the prices they caused.”
War Resolution Claims
Trump claimed to have “settled eight wars” and to be working on a ninth (Russia-Ukraine). He listed multiple conflicts: “India, Pakistan, think of – think of all the wars I ended.”
He expressed frustration about Nobel Prize recognition: “Every time I end a war they say, if President Trump ends that war, he’s going to get the Nobel Prize… What about the other eight wars… I should get the Nobel Prize for every war.”
Casualty Statistics: Trump emphasized the human cost of the Russia-Ukraine war: “Last month, 27,000 young people died, mostly young people, mostly soldiers… 27,000 people died between Russia and Ukraine last month.”
Marco Rubio reinforced the administration’s peace focus, noting Trump is “the only leader in the world that can help end” the Ukraine war and has “taken on this issue of Sudan personally.” Rubio emphasized that in the Russia-Ukraine war, “more people are dying a week in that war than have died in the entirety of the US’s involvement in Afghanistan or Iraq.”
Personal Health and Cognitive Testing
Responding to questions about his health, Trump revealed he recently “took my physical. I got all A’s, everything.” He then volunteered information about taking a cognitive test despite not being required to do so.
Trump’s account of the cognitive test discussion at Walter Reed Hospital:
The doctors asked: “Would you like to take a cognitive test?”
Trump: “I said, is it hard? They said, yes. I said, well, I’m a very smart person. Who was the last president to take one? No president has ever agreed to take one.”
He explained his hesitation: “When you get into the mid questions, meaning you know 10, question number 10, 11, 12, 28, 30, they get harder and harder.” The doctors warned him that “this is Walter Reed Hospital and that’s a military hospital… if you do poorly, we’ll have to probably – you’ll – you’ll find out.”
Trump’s response: “I said, I won’t do poorly. I’m a smart person, not a stupid person. And as the doctor will tell you, I aced it… I got every question right. And these are tough questions.”
He criticized media coverage: “I’m the only one that took it. I got every single question right and then I read in the New York Times, is Trump sharp? Trump is sharp, but they’re not sharp. That’s why they’re going out of business, The New York Times.”
Criticism of Specific Politicians
Trump used the platform to criticize several political opponents by name:
Jerome Powell (Fed Chair): Called him “an incompetent chairman of the fed, a real dope who should reduce rates.” Trump stated: “We’ll be announcing somebody probably early next year for the new chairman of the fed.” When asked about candidates, Trump revealed: “We probably looked at 10… we have it down to one” but declined to name the person.
Pete Buttigieg: Called “boot, edge, edge, who is another grossly incompetent person. He’d get in his bicycle, ride to work and he was just terrible.”
Illinois Governor and Chicago Mayor: Trump stated: “We have a governor that’s grossly incompetent and we have a mayor that’s even more incompetent than governor. He’s a very low IQ person. And typically, low IQ people don’t make good mayors.”
Tim Walz (Minnesota Governor): Trump called him “a grossly incompetent man” and stated “there’s something wrong with him.” On the fraud scandal involving Somali immigrants, Kristi Noem reported that “50 percent of them are fraudulent” visas in Minnesota, adding: “That wacko Governor Waltz either is an idiot or he did it on purpose. And I think he’s both.”
Ilhan Omar: Trump delivered extended criticism of the Minnesota congresswoman: “When I see somebody like Ilhan Omar, who I don’t know at all, but I always watch her. For years, I’ve watched her complain about our Constitution… Our Constitution, the United States of America is a bad place. It hates everybody, hates Jewish people, hates everybody. And I think she’s an incompetent person. She’s a real terrible person.”
He expanded this into broader comments about Somali immigrants: “I hear they ripped off – Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars, billions. Every year, billions of dollars and they contribute nothing. The welfare is like 88 percent. They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you, OK? Somebody would say, oh, that’s not politically correct. I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks and we don’t want them in our country.”
He continued: “Ilhan Omar is garbage, she’s garbage. Her friends are garbage… These are people that do nothing but complain… from where they came from, they’ve got nothing… But when they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”
Tributes to Fallen National Guard Members
Trump opened the meeting with extended remarks honoring two National Guard members recently attacked in Washington, DC.
Sarah (deceased): “Sarah is gone. She passed away. She’s looking down on us now and she loves her parents and they loved her… She was an incredible person, highly respected, top of her class, everything. She was like a perfect human being, 20 years old, just started. She was like a baby. She was so proud. They were giving her a promotion and she told her parents that she was getting a promotion and they were so proud of her. Then they get a call that this happened.”
Andy (survivor): Trump recounted speaking with Andy’s mother immediately after the attack: “Sir, he’s going to live. I’m telling you. No doctor thought that. Nobody thought that. He was hit in bad places and she was like so positive. It was incredible.”
Attorney General Bondi later updated: “Andy is doing well. His parents, Melody and Jason, wanted me to tell you and I was with them yesterday in the hospital. He’s a miracle… the monster will be held accountable – who did this.”
White House Restoration
Trump detailed physical improvements to the White House, framing them as symbolic of national renewal.
Cabinet Room: “We took pictures down from the vaults. We have vaults downstairs with lots of pictures that haven’t been exposed to the world for, in many cases, over 100 years. We brought them up and we’re using them as they should be used.”
Lincoln Bedroom and Bathroom: “The Lincoln bedroom was redone. The Lincoln bathroom is now gorgeous like it should have been. It was terrible, green tile that was never the way it was supposed to be. It was done in the 1940s actually, but it was not proper.”
Christmas Decorations: “The First Lady has done a beautiful job with the Christmas trees and all the decorations. I see the wreaths on the windows. I’ve never seen that before on the windows of the White House. And you know, it’s four stories high.”
New Ballroom: Trump announced construction of what he called “maybe the greatest ballroom. We needed it – for 150 years they’ve been asking… It’s going to be the – I think it’s going to be the finest ballroom ever built.” He noted: “Every time I hear them [construction equipment], I love the sound. I wouldn’t say my wife is thrilled. She hears pile drivers in the background all day, all night. They go till 12:00 in the evening.”
Elon Musk Relationship
When asked about Elon Musk attending a White House dinner, Trump gave a measured response: “Well, I really don’t know. I mean I like Elon a lot, he was a very – he really helped during the election with his endorsement. He felt strongly. Look, we had one problem, you know, I didn’t want to have everybody have to have an electric car and he makes electric cars and, yeah, I think we get along well.”
Context for readers: This represents a notably cooler response compared to Trump’s enthusiastic embrace of Musk earlier in his term, when Musk was frequently at the White House and heavily involved in government efficiency efforts. The qualification about electric vehicle mandates suggests potential policy tensions.
Media Relations and Transparency
Trump simultaneously criticized media coverage while claiming unprecedented transparency: “This has to be the most transparent administration in history. We spend a lot of time answering your questions and giving you a lot of good – you know, good results.”
He directed particular criticism at The New York Times: “They’re a bunch of fakers… I hear that they’re losing so much money it’s ridiculous.”
Trump also praised a cameraman who held a camera throughout the lengthy meeting: “How strong are you? You’ve been holding that camera for two hours… there are very few people who could do that. I’m very proud of you. I have no idea who you are, but you’re smart.”
When a reporter thanked him for “taking our questions. I think this is the most transparent administration I’ve ever seen,” Trump accepted the compliment.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Multiple Cabinet members expressed optimism about 2026 prospects.
Scott Bessent projected: “Next year is going to be a fantastic year. We can look back, be very proud of this year, but I think 2026 is going to be a great for the American people thanks to you.”
JD Vance concluded: “I think the next year in American growth and American prosperity could be the best year that we’ve had in the United States of America… I think 2026 is going to be the year where this economy really takes off.”
Doug Burgum connected economic optimism to the nation’s 250th anniversary: “We are set up to really have something to celebrate next year” as the country approaches its semiquincentennial celebration.
MLA Citation
“Remarks: Donald Trump Holds a Cabinet Meeting at the White House – December 2, 2025.” Factbase, 2 Dec. 2025, https://factba.se.