During an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News, President Donald Trump expressed skepticism regarding concerns about the U.S. economy. He dismissed the notion that Americans are anxious about economic conditions, stating, “I don’t know that they are saying that. I think the polls are fake.” Trump emphasized his belief in the strength of the economy, asserting, “We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had.”

In another segment of the interview, Trump and Ingraham debated the administration’s policy on foreign students, particularly the presence of 600,000 Chinese students in the U.S. Ingraham questioned how this aligns with the “pro-MAGA” stance. Trump argued against reducing international student numbers, saying, “You don’t want to cut half the people, half the students from all over the world that are coming into our country, destroy our entire university and college system.” He defended his position by stating, “MAGA was my idea. I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else, and MAGA wants to see our country thrive.”

The discussion also touched on the issue of Chinese students potentially posing security risks. Ingraham highlighted concerns about espionage and intellectual property theft. Trump countered by questioning the assumption that French students, for example, would be less problematic, saying, “You think the French are better? Really? I’ll tell you, I’m not so sure. We’ve had a lot of problems with the French, where we get taxed very unfairly on our technology.”

Trump defended China a second time when Ingraham brought up that a Chinese diplomat said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi should be beheaded over comments she made about Japan potentially defending Taiwan. ‘Well, a lot of our allies aren’t our friends either,’ Trump said. ‘A lot of our allies took advantage of us on trade more than China did.’ Ingraham kicked off the interview by discussing the government shutdown, as the Senate nears a pivotal vote to conclude it after six weeks.

Earlier Monday, Trump had threatened air traffic controllers who called off sick with docked pay and said he’d give $10,000 bonuses to those who stayed on the job through the ordeal. ‘Look, life is not so easy for anybody,’ Trump said. ‘We should not have had people leaving their jobs.’ Ingraham then asked where he’d get the money to pay out $10,000 bonuses. ‘I don’t know,’ Trump answered. ‘I’ll get it from some place.’

The president also shrugged off MAGA criticism of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte’s plan to have the government-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac support 50-year mortgages. He pointed out that he ‘inherited’ the housing crisis. ‘It’s not even a big deal. I mean, you go from 40 to 50 years,’ Trump answered. ‘Thirty,’ Ingraham interjected – as 30-year mortgages are standard. ‘All it means is you pay less per month, you pay over a longer period of time. It’s not like a big factor. It might help a little bit,’ Trump said.

He then blamed Biden for the interest rates being hiked during the pandemic years. Ingraham also pointed out Democratic wins last week in Virginia and New Jersey, where voters expressed that affordability was a key issue. She asked the president what needed to be done by Republicans in terms of policy for voters to feel better about the economy. ‘More than anything else, it’s a con job by the Democrats,’ Trump said.