Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., told Newsmax Thursday that President Donald Trump is still himself but also different this time around in that he seems "more relaxed" and is "having fun."
"Even in the inauguration, he's definitely still Trump," DesJarlais said on "National Report." "He's Trump, and he marches to the beat of his own drum, which is refreshing. He has his own agenda, and he's not a creature of the swamp. He's not part of the deep state, and I think that's why Americans elected him in the popular vote in an overwhelming margin, it's because they saw what it could be like under Biden-Harris, where America was drug down, and we saw record inflation, and we saw weakness projected around the world and almost like as if our adversaries were mocking us and didn't take us seriously."
"But now, now we see this peace-through-strength president," he said, referring to Trump. "I think he is different than he was in his first term because he's not the same threat he was. Everybody focused all their energy on keeping him from taking office, and now he can't be reelected, so he's calmer, he's having fun; you see the YMCA thing. I mean, he has a different demeanor. And I think some of the abrasiveness and whatnot that people maybe didn't like about him last time, I don't think it will be as evident because he's more relaxed, and he seems more comfortable."
DesJarlais also said that going from former President Joe Biden's administration to the second Trump administration is "like night and day."
"You got a president that's 72 hours into his job; he did more in the first 12 hours than Biden's done in the last 12 months," he said. "And so, to have a president that's accessible to the press, that's transparent, that talks, he has an agenda — an agenda that wasn't made for him by somebody else, we still don't really know who was pulling Biden's strings — but I think there's just a real sense of optimism here in Washington, across the country, and around the globe that America is back, and there's a new sheriff in town."
During Trump's first administration, DesJarlais said that he "was new" and "was a little late getting appointees in." This time, however, the president is "way ahead of schedule," the Tennessee congressman said.
"People can't keep up with him now," he said. "The guy never sleeps, and so, I think that even the Democrats here seem willing to work with us."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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