President Donald Trump speaks with the news media before boarding Marine One for travel to Europe from the White House, in Washington, July 10, 2018.

President Donald Trump told talk show host Sean Hannity that he could imagine the economy growing at 8 or 9 percent on Friday — just hours after the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the GDP rose 4.1 percent in the second quarter.

The president said that the gains could come from cutting the nation's trade deficit "in half."

"If I cut it in half, right there we will pick up three or four points," Trump said during the unexpected radio show appearance. "We'd be at eight or nine" percent, he added.