President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed issues about potential financial hassle, saying all the things can be “OK” in the long run, even when the united stateseconomy skilled a recession within the brief time period.
Requested twice by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker whether or not it could be OK in the long term if there have been a recession within the brief time period, the president stated, “Look, yeah, it is — all the things’s OK. What we’re — I stated, this can be a transition interval. I believe we will do fantastically.”
Following up, Welker requested Trump if he was apprehensive a few recession, to which he responded, “No.” Requested whether or not he thinks one might occur, Trump replied, “Something can occur, however I believe we will have the best economic system within the historical past of our nation.”
The remarks come as analysts on Wall Avenue are more and more apprehensive that the nation might face a recession as a result of Trump’s altering tariff coverage.
“Effectively, you recognize, you say, ‘Some folks on Wall Avenue say’ — effectively, I let you know one thing else. Some folks on Wall Avenue say that we will have the best economic system in historical past. Why do not you discuss them?” Trump stated throughout the interview at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“There are numerous folks on Wall Avenue say that is going to be the best windfall ever occur,” the president added.
In line with preliminary measurements launched by the Commerce Division on Wednesday, the U.S. economic system shrank by 0.3% within the first quarter of 2025, a discount largely pushed by a fall in exports and a increase in imports forward of Trump’s anticipated tariffs.
On Wednesday, whereas assembly with members of his Cupboard, Trump deflected blame for the first-quarter gross home product numbers, saying they have been a results of the economic system former President Joe Biden left behind.
“You in all probability noticed some numbers at the moment,” Trump stated, “and I’ve to start out off by saying, that is Biden.”
“That is not Trump,” he added Wednesday. “As a result of we got here in on January, these are quarterly numbers, and we got here in and I used to be very in opposition to all the things that Biden was doing by way of the economic system, destroying our nation in so some ways.”
For the reason that begin of his administration in January, Trump has sought to impose tariffs on America’s largest buying and selling companions, together with Canada, Mexico and China.
Early final month, the president paused the introduction of bigger tariffs on most international locations for 90 days, simply days after imposing them. His partial retreat fueled a rally in markets, which as of Friday recovered the losses they suffered after his preliminary tariff announcement on April 2.
On the similar time, Trump slapped much more tariffs on China, elevating the tariff charge on the Asian nation to 145%.
Nonetheless, the president has repeatedly dismissed issues that the tariffs on China can have main results on the costs or availability of shopper items within the U.S.
In the course of the Cupboard assembly, he advised reporters, “Any individual stated, ‘Oh, the cabinets are going to be open.’ Effectively, possibly the kids can have two dolls as a substitute of 30 dolls, you recognize? And possibly the 2 dolls will value a few bucks greater than they’d usually.”