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Michael Faulkender, the former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury, believes it’s too early to doubt President Donald Trump’s record on the economy.
“I think we should recognize how well it set the foundation next year,” Faulkender said of the administration’s record in an appearance on Fox Business’ “Kudlow” on New Year’s Eve.
With 2025 in the rearview mirror, Faulkender believes the changes the administration made in its first year will disprove criticisms from Democrats that a Republican governing trifecta has done little to bring prices down.
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Among other economy-related executive orders, President Donald Trump pushed through his signature Big Beautiful Bill Act — a piece of legislation that slashed taxes, created new forms of tax relief and extended tax policies advanced in the first Trump administration.
“Once that was reintroduced at the beginning of this administration, you saw the benefits of that permeate its way into the economy,” Faulkender said.
The administration also undid many energy-related executive orders from the Biden administration that restricted oil production on federal land.
“Oil is at $57 a barrel today. That has not yet fully internalized itself into the economy,” Faulkender argued. “And if you have low energy and vast amounts of it available to you, couple that with the large tax refunds that are coming in February and March. And that success that we saw in the second and third quarters of this year are going to continue into next year.”
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Oil prices have dropped considerably since the beginning of the administration, according to data from the New York Mercantile Exchange — down almost 28% from its 2025 high in January of $78.70 a barrel.
Inflation has fluctuated for much of the year, evading the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
Most recently, the U.S. reported inflation at 2.7% in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lowest inflation rate of the year came in April at 2.3%. Inflation climbed to a peak of 3% in September.
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Faulkender said that rollout of the second administration’s actions on energy and the economy closely mirrored efforts from Trump’s first term in office.
“If you go back to the economic record of the first administration, you saw that the combination of low energy prices, deregulation, pro-growth tax reform, all are the foundation for generating a strong economy that doesn’t have inflation that goes with it,” Faulkender said.
Faulkender served as the No. 2 official at the Department of the Treasury under the second Trump administration until stepping down in August. It’s unclear why he left.
Before his nomination in March, Faulkender briefly served as the acting IRS commissioner and helped the administration’s transition team as a senior advisor after the 2024 election.
