Trump: “Private Enterprise, Not Government”; Sen. Scott: “2% Population Growth, 53% Spending Increase”

President Trump and Elon Musk boarded Air Force One together in Palm Beach to return to Washington on March 10, 2025, with Trump declaring “I want a dynamic country where private enterprise carries the day, not the government.” He described Democrats’ behavior at his joint address as proving his prediction that “no matter what I do, they’re going to sit there angry, insolent” and said foreign leaders were telling him “the feeling about the United States is very different — it feels that we’re back.” Senator Rick Scott delivered the fiscal statistic that framed the budget debate: “We’ve had a 2% increase in population in five years and a 53% increase in spending. We will not get interest rates down or inflation under control until we balance the budget."

"Private Enterprise, Not Government”

Trump articulated his governing philosophy in a single sentence as he prepared to board Air Force One.

“I want a dynamic country where private enterprise carries the day, not the government,” Trump said.

He connected the vision to military strength: “I want a strong country militarily. We need that nowadays. You can see that better than ever before. So I rebuilt our military.”

Trump acknowledged the cost of Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal: “A lot of it was given away to Afghanistan — but it was a lot, but a very small portion in all fairness. But when you think about the billions and billions of dollars that was just handed over… but I rebuilt it. We’re going to be rebuilding it again because we need that.”

He described the tools for the economic transformation: “We’re doing a series of incentives — tax incentives and other things. The tax bill, I think, is going to be very important.”

The “private enterprise carries the day” declaration was the philosophical core of the Trump economic agenda. Every policy — tariffs to reshore manufacturing, deregulation to free businesses, DOGE to cut government waste, the Gold Card to attract talent — pointed in the same direction: expanding the private sector while shrinking the public sector. The February jobs data had already validated the approach: 10,000 private manufacturing jobs created, 10,000 government jobs cut.

”No Matter What I Do”

Trump reflected on the Democratic response to his joint address with a mixture of vindication and genuine bewilderment.

“One thing I learned the other night — I said at the beginning, I didn’t know it was going to be as pertinent as it turned out to be — that no matter what I do, this group of people in front of us, I could come up with a cure to the worst disease that the world has ever seen,” Trump said.

He continued: “I said, no matter what I do, they’re going to sit there angry, insolent. I mean, you see it, you can feel it. No matter what I say, no matter what I do, no matter who it is, they won’t stand, they won’t applaud, they won’t clap. They’ll just sit there with sour faces.”

Trump noted the prediction had been validated in real time: “I said, I wonder if I should put this in, but it worked out to be true. And I think by putting it in, I showed that it was true.”

He expressed sadness rather than anger: “It’s sad because we’re doing great things in this country. This country’s really got a chance to be pretty quickly great again.”

The passage captured a dynamic that had defined the joint address coverage. By predicting Democratic obstinance before it happened — and having that prediction confirmed by their behavior during the speech — Trump had turned the Democrats’ refusal to applaud into proof of his argument rather than a response to his policies.

”A Big Light Over the Country”

Trump cited international validation for the sense of American renewal.

“I think the country’s got a big light over it right now,” he said. “And I’ve been told this by even other foreign leaders.”

He listed the visitors: “We had Modi. We had everyone. We had from France to India to about 12 that want to come in. They all want to be here.”

He cited UK PM Starmer specifically: “The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was here and he couldn’t believe. He said the difference in terms of the feeling about the United States is very different. It feels that we’re back. We’re respected again.”

Trump concluded: “We are respected again. And in a way, we’re back, and it’s only been a few weeks.”

The consistent message from foreign leaders — that the United States felt different, that it was respected again, that the world wanted to engage with Trump’s America — served as external validation of what domestic supporters already felt. When allied leaders confirmed privately and publicly that American leadership had been restored, it was harder for domestic critics to argue that the administration’s approach was isolating the country.

Sen. Scott: The 53% Statistic

Senator Rick Scott of Florida delivered the budget data point that distilled the fiscal crisis into its most powerful form.

“Americans are fed up,” Scott said, citing specific waste examples: “$600,000 for menstrual cycle studies of transgender men. $300 million for cement manufacturing in Gaza. $800,000 for gardening in El Salvador.”

He then provided the comparison that defined the budget debate: “We’ve had a 2% increase in population in five years and a 53% increase in spending.”

The gap between 2% population growth and 53% spending growth meant that per-capita federal spending had increased by approximately 50% in five years — a rate of growth that was completely unsustainable. The population had barely changed; the spending had exploded.

Scott drew the fiscal conclusion: “We will not get interest rates down. We will not get inflation under control until we balance the budget. That’s what we have to do.”

He connected DOGE to the balanced-budget objective: “Elon Musk is part of the process of balancing the budget.”

Scott’s description of Musk’s approach aligned with what other officials had described: “He is looking at every program he can. He’s giving information to agency heads and they’re making decisions how to go forward.”

The 2%-to-53% comparison was the single most effective statistic for explaining why inflation had occurred and why spending cuts were necessary. If the government spent 53% more while the population grew only 2%, the excess spending had to go somewhere — and it went into higher prices. The money sloshing through the economy without a corresponding increase in goods and services produced was the textbook definition of inflation.

Key Takeaways

• Trump declared “I want a dynamic country where private enterprise carries the day, not the government” as he boarded Air Force One with Musk.
• He said Democrats’ joint address behavior proved his prediction: “No matter what I do, they’re going to sit there angry, insolent.”
• Trump cited foreign leaders confirming “the feeling about the United States is very different — it feels that we’re back, we’re respected again.”
• Sen. Scott delivered the defining budget statistic: “2% increase in population, 53% increase in spending” over five years, saying “we will not get inflation under control until we balance the budget.”
• Scott cited specific waste: $600K for transgender menstrual cycle studies, $300M for Gaza cement, $800K for El Salvador gardening.