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How Trump’s Interview With Dave Ramsey Ahead of His First 100 Days Stacked Up

May 13, 2025

4 min Read

Written by Vance Cariaga

Edited by Cory Dudak

Mark Humphrey / AP / Shutterstock.com

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President Donald Trump is not shy about making bold predictions — or assigning blame if those predictions fall short of the mark. As a presidential candidate in October 2024, Trump spoke with financial advisor Dave Ramsey to share some of his plans should he win the White House for a second term.

The conversation covered a wide range of topics, from tariffs and golf courses to why pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan was “the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.”

Here’s a look back at three things Trump talked about with Ramsey, and how his predictions stack up now after more than 100 days in office.

Energy Costs

Trump spent part of his time discussing plans to drastically reduce energy prices — a goal he called “easily achievable” by ramping up domestic oil production.

“I believe I’ll be able to get energy down to 50% of what it is right now within a period of less than a year,” he said.

That’s a very ambitious goal, though there has been progress.

The Consumer Price Index for energy dropped 2.4% in March from a month earlier, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Year over year, the energy index fell 3.3% in March as a 9.5% decline in energy commodities like gasoline and fuel oil offset a 2.8% rise in electricity and a 9.4% increase in piped utility gas.

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As for prices at the pump, the average national price for regular gasoline was $3.14 a gallon as of May 12, 2025, according to AAA. That was well down from $3.62 the previous year. However, prices have ticked up slightly since Trump took office in late January, when the average was $3.13 a gallon.

Furniture Production

In his chat with Ramsey, Trump mentioned how North Carolina was once the “furniture capital of the world” before “China went in” and took a lot of the business away. Trump promised to “bring it all back” to the Tar Heel state.

So far, that hasn’t happened — and some industry insiders doubt it ever will in light of Trump’s sweeping tariff proposals. One of those experts is Shannon Williams, CEO of the Home Furnishings Association.

“I’ve spoken with the CEOs of the largest furniture manufacturers supplying the U.S., and none of them have communicated intent or plans to bring manufacturing or assembly back to the U.S., due to tariffs on raw materials, components, high labor costs, and a lack of employable workers,” Williams told FOX Business in March.

Analyst Tim Stump, head of merger and acquisition advisory firm Stump & Company, shared similar thoughts in a recent interview with Fox 8 News in Greensboro, North Carolina. He suggested it would take longer than Trump’s term to ramp U.S. furniture manufacturing up in a significant way. He also expressed doubt that many CEOs want to put a lot of money into U.S.-based production.

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“I just don’t see at scale that we can move […] enough furniture back to the U.S. to move the needle,” Stump said.

Social Security

Trump told Ramsey there’s a “tremendous” amount of government cost cutting that could be done under his leadership, but “we have to save Social Security and keep it good and solid.”

However, his record so far tells a different story. Already this year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced plans to cut more than 7,000 jobs and close at least 10 field offices.

Leading the downsizing efforts is the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a non-official organization headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk that Trump formed to slash federal government spending. Musk himself has suggested that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” rife with waste and fraud, and might be a good candidate for a massive overhaul.

Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.

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