WATCH: CNN Host Stuns Network With Rare Praise for Trump’s “Best Week Yet”
Longtime CNN host gave a surprising monologue of President Donald Trump‘s “wins” while analyzing his recent domestic and foreign policy achievements.
“The first five months of Trump 2.0, they’re in the books. I’m not shy about voicing my disagreement here with President Trump. We’re doing so on radio often, whether it’s trade, border control, Iran, I find myself agreeing with the goal, but not the approach,” Smerconish said.
“But viewed objectively, I have to say that Donald Trump has just had the best week or best 10 days of his second term.”
He went on to highlight that while he had his doubts about the need for strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, “but the mission was carried out with stealth and with precision,” the longtime CNN host added.
“There were no American casualties. And while Congress is divided after receiving briefings on the extent of the damage, I’m sure that we’ve derailed Iran’s nuclear program, at least temporarily. And there’s some valuable deterrent effect for America’s adversaries who witnessed last week’s exercise.”
Smerconish also praised Trump’s visit to the NATO summit in the Netherlands, where he held talks with allies on trade and defense cooperation.
The president managed to get NATO nations to agree to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP for all member states.
“Back at home, Trump claimed that he’s reached a trade deal with China and soon expects the same with India. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg that the deal was signed earlier this week. China’s Commerce Ministry said Friday the two sides had further confirmed the details of the framework,” the CNN host went on to say.
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“Of course, Trump’s initial imposition of tariffs wreaked havoc on American markets back in the spring, but now the markets have rebounded and grown,” he added.
“The S&P 500, Nasdaq, hit record highs just yesterday. And it’s not just the stock market. Inflation, the great economic fear of recent times, seems to be tamed.”
“The rate is now reported at 2.4 percent, down from a high of 7 percent just four years ago. Meanwhile, blue-collar workers have seen real wage growth of 1.7 percent in Trump’s first five months. This is the largest such increase in nearly three generations.”
Smerconish also admitted that the Trump-backed Big Beautiful Bill will provide even more relief for working class Americans if it does pass.
“And then there’s the border. Crossings have slowed to a trickle. According to CBP’s May update, Southwest border encounters have fallen to about 282 a day, a drop of 93% from last year and the lowest since the early 1960s,” he continued.
Smerconish went on to describe the rise of pro-communist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as the “perfect foil” to play off in political battles.
“Winning became a punchline that Trump’s opponents used to lampoon him in his first administration. He was a political novice then, surrounded by a team with which he was unfamiliar, and he was probably as surprised as the rest of us were that he won the election. This time is different,” the CNN host continued.
“This time he came with a plan and a cabinet with senior advisors comprised of loyalists all well known to the president. And recently he’s exhibited a more layered approach to governing on both the domestic and international front, no longer solely guided by winning each day’s news cycle. By any objective both President Trump has his opponents on the run.”
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