Hours before President Trump’s State of the Union address, House Speaker Mike Johnson told CBS News the U.S. economy is on the right track — but he added that inflation has not been “completely fixed yet.”

In an interview Tuesday with “CBS Evening News,” Johnson also argued “we shouldn’t freak out” about the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and urged the Iranian government to “follow common sense” as Mr. Trump weighs military action.

Johnson says inflation is “on the right trajectory,” calls SCOTUS tariff ruling a “surprise”

Johnson expects Mr. Trump to spend part of his speech Tuesday night touting his economic record, including “the exciting facts about what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

In recent months, the president has celebrated the country’s economic performance in his first year on the job, including a slowdown in inflation and a strong labor market.

Recent polls show most voters aren’t so optimistic. Just 37% of Americans feel that the state of the economy is good, and 60% feel that Mr. Trump makes prices and inflation sound better than they actually are, according to a CBS News survey released Tuesday.

Johnson argued that Republicans “inherited a real mess” when Mr. Trump returned to office last year, calling the state of the economy a “disaster” during the Biden administration.

“Now, it takes a while to reverse that trend,” he said. “You don’t flip a switch right after the election and it all just is fixed magically.”

Johnson noted that inflation is “gradually coming down.” Consumer prices rose 2.4% in the yearlong period ending in January, and inflation has consistently hovered at 3% or below since mid-2024 — well below its peak of 9.1% in mid-2022.

“It’s not completely fixed yet, but we are on the right trajectory,” the speaker said.

He also pointed to the tax savings that many U.S. households will draw from the Trump-backed “big, beautiful bill” that passed last summer.

But a core part of Mr. Trump’s economic agenda — tariffs — faced a major legal setback last week, when the Supreme Court ruled that many of the president’s sweeping global import duties are unlawful. Mr. Trump called the decision an “embarrassment” and quickly announced new temporary global tariffs under a different legal authority. 

Those new tariffs expire in 150 days unless Congress takes action to extend them. House Republicans are divided on Mr. Trump’s trade strategy, with some GOP lawmakers joining with Democrats to vote in favor of rolling back some of the tariffs earlier this month.

Johnson called the high court’s ruling “a surprise” and “a great irritation to the president,” and said it’s “inarguable that the president’s approach to trade policy has worked for the country.” He pointed to the trade deals that Mr. Trump has cut with many U.S. trading partners.

Tariffs are controversial: Mr. Trump argues they’re necessary to revive U.S. manufacturing and hit back against unfair trade practices by foreign countries, but many economists warn they will lead to slower economic growth and higher prices as importers pass the cost on to consumers.

Last year, the U.S. imported $1.24 trillion more goods than it exported, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, marking the widest trade deficit for goods on record. And manufacturing employment has shrunk slightly over the last year. 

Johnson disputed those figures, and said: “America is back in many ways, and the economy is leading on that. Are we where we need to be? No. But are we on the right trajectory? Absolutely. It’s an exact reversal of what we had under four years of Bidenomics.”

The speaker said he expects the president to emphasize “that we need patience on this. Again, you don’t flip a switch after an election and fix everything overnight.”

Johnson: “We shouldn’t freak out” about AI

For many Americans, the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the economy is a longer-term stressor. Some 62% of U.S. adults said in a CBS News poll earlier this month that they expect AI to decrease the availability of jobs. Meanwhile, many AI proponents believe the technology could trigger an economic boom by boosting worker productivity.

Johnson said “we shouldn’t freak out” about AI, predicting the U.S. will find a path through any disruptions.

“We’re very vigilant about this, very sober-minded,” he said. “But we don’t worry. We’re not in fear. We are [a] great country. We’ll figure this out, and we will stay ahead of China.”

He also said he wants Congress to work on a “federal framework” for AI safety rules, rather than allowing a “50-state patchwork” of individual — and sometimes conflicting — regulations. The Trump administration has sought to block certain state-level AI rules.

Speaker backs Trump on immigration, but says there’s a “perception” that enforcement was “overzealous”

When Mr. Trump entered office last year, immigration was one of his most favorable issues, with most voters backing his mass deportation efforts. Illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have plummeted over the last year, and the number of immigration detainees has jumped.

But public opinion has turned in recent months, particularly in light of a crackdown in Minneapolis, with more Americans now worried that immigration agents are going too far.

Asked about polling on immigration, Johnson said “there’s a perception out there that it was overzealous, in some respect. But the president’s intention has always been to rid the country of dangerous criminal illegals. That’s what they’ve accomplished.”

Johnson lauded White House border czar Tom Homan, who was dispatched to take over the Minneapolis immigration operation after the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens by federal agents drew bipartisan pushback. Homan began winding down the surge in the city earlier this month.

“I think Tom Homan has done a great job, when he went into Minneapolis, for example, and he brought calm to the situation, and restored common sense,” Johnson siad.

Johnson hopes Iranian regime will “follow common sense”

This year’s State of the Union will take place amid a diplomatic scramble over Iran. Mr. Trump is weighing military strikes against Iran unless the country agrees to curb its nuclear program.

Asked if he would support striking Iran, Johnson said the president has “emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution,” and “we’re hopeful that the leaders of Iran will follow common sense.” He added that he doesn’t anticipate U.S. forces on the ground, though.

He said a “stabilized region in the Middle East is certainly in America’s interest,” calling Iran “the great agitator” in the area and a “sponsor of terrorist organizations around the world.”

“They’re an evil regime, they hate America, they would like to kill all Americans,” Johnson said. “They are an avowed enemy of us. If they were taken out, if that was changed, it would benefit America, it would benefit the world.”