Trump updates on Iran, touts border security and economy at Camp David Cabinet meeting
byCORY SMITH | The National News Desk
Fri, July 31, 2026 at 8:43 AM
UpdatedFri, July 31, 2026 at 2:35 PM
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President Donald Trump speaks as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listen during a cabinet meeting, Friday, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md., Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
(TNND) —Camp David hosted President Donald Trump’s Cabinet meeting for the first time in his second term on Friday
Trump touched on the war with Iran, inflation, border security and a range of other issues, highlighting what he viewed as his administration’s accomplishments and ongoing challenges
All Cabinet members were present, except for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who had a family commitment, according to a White House pool report
Trump, who called Camp David a “special place,” started the meeting by ticking off a list of achievements and contrasting them with what he called the “disaster” of the previous administration
Trump highlighted what he described as a 125-year low in the murder rate, cooling inflation reflected in price cuts at big retailers like Walmart, and record-setting gains on Wall Street
A report Thursday showed annual inflation in June was 3.7%, an improvement from the 4.1% recorded in May
Trump said tariffs have made the U.S. “rich and successful,” with a fresh round of tariffs recently implemented
FILE – A person pumps gas June 25, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The president touted his Trump Accounts, a new type of investment account for children created under the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill that recently went into effect
“And these tax-free investment savings accounts have already been activated by over 7 million children,” Trump said. “These are investments made in our future, which is our children.”
Trump held up border security as a big accomplishment in his second term
“And for the last 15 months. – the report just came out again – we’ve had no people coming in through our southern border. Zero,” Trump said. “And it’s almost hard to say, because you’d say, ‘Is that even possible?’ They have 25 million people came in. We have no people coming in through, illegally, through our southern border.”
Trump used the migrant surge in Spainas a warning for the U.S. and a pitch to voters to keep Republicans in charge after the midterm elections in a few months
“I saw Spain yesterday, and I watched the catastrophe that took place,” Trump said. “It was a – it looks like an invasion of a country by hundreds of thousands of people. And that same thing’s going to happen to us if the Republicans don’t get elected, except worse.”
Trump said his administration is investing in the military, and he said the war in Iran shows why that’s needed
Trump said the Iranian military has been “decimated,” though he admitted they have some, “very little,” military capabilities left
Trump reiterated that Iran can’t be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon
And he said it’s likely that back-and-forth bouts of renewed hostilities will continue for a while
“We’ll be hitting them very hard, and, you know, at some point they are going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore,’” Trump said
A reporter asked Trump if he was working to get diplomacy back on track
Trump said the U.S. just wants to win in the war against Iran, later describing his frustrations in negotiating with a “crazy” and unreliable adversary
“They always want to talk, but they break their word so often,” he said
And Trump dismissed the idea that Iran was behind cyberattacks that targeted water systems in Minnesota, instead placing blame at the feet of the state’s Democratic leadership
“Iran’s got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota,” Trump said
Trump said Todd Blanche should be confirmed as attorney general but claimed to understand why Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn is holding up the process
Cornyn has demanded written changes to a settlement the Department of Justice entered with Trump and the IRS in the spring. The deal shielded Trump and his two oldest sons from tax audits and created a $1.8 billion fund for so-called victims of government “weaponization.”
But Trump said the “anti-weaponization” fund is dead, though he wishes it weren’t
And he decried how Blanche has become a “pawn” in Cornyn’s alleged vendetta against Trump for Trump’s endorsement of Cornyn’s primary challenger
“I understand that,” Trump said, calling Cornyn “angry.” “I probably would do the same thing.”
Reporting from The National News Desk’s Ray Lewis and Caitlyn Frolo contributed to this report
