In a preview of the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump’s exclusive sit-down interview with FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow, the Republican front-runner addressed a range of top economic issues.
"Our country is going to hell and we're not going to be the big boy," Trump said. "We have power, but it's waning. In fact, it's waning in terms of our currency. And I'm not just talking about the value of our currency, I'm talking about our currency being used throughout the world."
The former president confirmed to Kudlow that the U.S. dollar’s windfall as the world’s reserve currency is "bigger than losing any war."
"You look at our airports, you look at our terminals, you look at our filthy roads and broken roads and everything else, we're like a Third World country," Trump noted.
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"We have something that's very powerful and that's our dollar," he added. "But you take a look at what's happening to it now with other countries not using it, and you know China wants to replace it with the Yuan, and it was unthinkable with us. Unthinkable. Would never have happened. Now people are thinking about it."
When it comes to a declining economy and rising cost of living, the ex-president and 2024 candidate put the onus on energy policy.
"Inflation was caused, in my opinion, by energy, because it's so big," Trump said. "It's like all encompassing, everything. You make donuts in the ovens and the trucks that deliver them, and no matter what you do, it's so much about energy."
Seeing the Biden administration’s moratorium on federal land and offshore oil drilling was reportedly "so sad" for Trump.
"They cut it off, and again, we were drilling much more. We were a bigger force than Russia and Saudi Arabia individually," he continued. "In a year and a half, we would have been a bigger force than them combined and we would have made so much money. We would have been paying off debt, we would have been doing things that nobody's ever seen this country do."
Trump also indicated he’s aiming to bring "common sense" back into the White House.
"We have a lot of common sense, and the problem is, they don't have common sense," the former president said. "They don't know what they're doing and they're destroying our country. We'll turn it around fast."
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According to a new Fox News national survey, the former president maintains a large lead in the Republican presidential primary contest, with 53% of voters preferring Trump.
The 45th president’s full interview will air on "Kudlow" Thursday, August 17 at 4 p.m. EST on FOX Business.
