There is already an "attitude shift" in the White House after President Donald Trump's swearing in, as shown by the work he's already done toward getting the economy back on track, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said Friday.
"Look at the Keystone pipeline," the Louisiana Republican told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program. "Here is a project, tens of thousands of jobs coming to America, billions of dollars of private investment in our country and energy security. [Former President] Barack Obama said no every step of the way. One fell swoop, less than a week in office, Donald Trump said let's create jobs and strengthen our national security and our energy security."
Getting the economy will allow Congress to get back to a balanced federal budget, Scalise continued.
"Look at what happened in the 1990s, when they balanced the federal budget, it was through growth in the economy and controlling spending," Scalise said. "We'll control spending in Washington. We need to get the economy moving and Barack Obama stifled it through job-killing regulations."
Scalise also spoke about the friction between Trump and Mexico over the issues of immigration and funding a wall along the border, saying Mexico's immigraiton policies are "much stricter than ours."
"Mexico secures their border," Scalise said. "Why shouldn't we be able to secure ours . . . you're seeing a lot of allies around the world, look at Israel really excited we have a leader standing up not only for America but for our allies around the world."
That also means that the United States will need to be "direct and strong with Russia," considering its actions over the past few years and its support in Syria, said Scalise, but he has faith that Rex Tillerson will become a "great' Secretary of State.
Scalise also said he believes the media has not been fair to Trump, including with the dust-up over whether a bust of Martin Luther King had been removed from the Oval Office.
"It is just unbelievable that people in the media would run with a story that is completely false and unverified," Scalise said. "They would assume the worst because that is the narrative they want to project, so I think he stood up to the media. He uses Twitter and other social media to get his message out directly to the American people. I think people are excited that he is the voice of the forgotten man."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.