Trump touts record gains at Camp David
Washington, Aug 1 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) US President Donald Trump used the first live televised Cabinet meeting ever held at Camp David to showcase what he described as major achievements across the economy, border security, healthcare, defence and government efficiency, while senior Cabinet officials outlined the administration’s priorities ahead of the midterm elections.
Opening the meeting at the presidential retreat in Maryland, Trump said the administration had reversed what he called four years of decline in less than 18 months.
“When we took office, we inherited a total catastrophe,” Trump said. “In less than 18 months, we’ve turned around four years of disaster and we now have the strongest border in American history.”
The President also pointed to falling inflation, record stock market gains, manufacturing investment and new savings programmes for children.
“On July 4th, we launched Trump Accounts, a key provision of our Great Big Beautiful Bill. These tax-free investment savings accounts have already been activated by over seven million children. These are investments made in our future.”
Trump also defended his administration’s “Most Favored Nation” prescription drug pricing policy.
“We’re achieving record discounts on prescription drugs,” he said. “The prescription drugs were going through the roof for many years and now we’re getting record discounts, with price discounts of 300 per cent, 400 per cent, 500 per cent, 600 per cent.”
Vice President JD Vance highlighted what he called unprecedented progress by the administration’s anti-fraud task force.
“Just since the beginning of the Fraud Task Force that I started under the President’s leadership and direction, we have identified $230 billion of fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American people, and we have halted already $56 billion of that,” Vance said.
He added that the administration would announce “17 new anti-fraud actions” worth “about a third of a billion dollars.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio focused on foreign policy, saying Washington had begun an international effort against the International Criminal Court.
“The International Criminal Court is an illegitimate international organization,” Rubio said. “We’ve now begun an effort to really try to bring that court to heel.”
Rubio also cited what he described as diplomatic gains in the Middle East.
“The deal with Lebanon and Israel is unprecedented,” he said. “This is the first time the Israelis and the Lebanese government have spoken at the official level in close to 30 years.”
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth credited Trump’s leadership with improving military recruitment and investment.
“When you rip out DEI, when you rip out social engineering and social justice and you put in merit, and then you untie the hands of commanders to enforce discipline and accountability, to get back to basics, then you get historic reenlistment inside our ranks,” Hegseth said.
He added that defence companies had already committed “$75 billion in private investment” to expand manufacturing capacity for future weapons systems.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration’s economic policies were strengthening consumer confidence and encouraging manufacturers to expand production in the United States.
“America is ushering in the greatest reshoring wave in our history,” Bessent said. “In June, our manufacturing sector expanded for the sixth straight month.”
He also praised the administration’s tax agenda, saying it combined incentives for business investment with tax relief for workers.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration’s TrumpRx programme had already reduced prescription drug costs.
“TrumpRx, just in the short time since we’ve put it out, has saved Americans $700 million,” Kennedy said. “We now have 800 drugs on there. We have deals with Amazon, with GoodRx. We are adding more and more drugs every day.”
The Camp David meeting marked the first time television cameras were allowed inside a Cabinet meeting at the presidential retreat, according to Trump. It combined Cabinet presentations with an extended question-and-answer session in which the President also addressed Iran, Hamas, Ukraine and domestic political issues.
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