President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed the risk and impact of a possible recession as a result of the trade war he started with most of the developed world last month and said the American economy would be better than ever as a result of his trade policies.
Trump’s bold prediction and dismissal of any negative effects from a recession comes just days after the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that the American economy had contracted by 0.3 percent during the first quarter of this year, marking the first drop in three years as the president’s tariff policies disrupted businesses and their supply chains.
Speaking to NBC News anchor Kristen Welker during a pre-taped interview for the Sunday, May 4 edition of Meet the Press, Trump was pressed on concerns from Wall Street about the effect his decision to impose massive import taxes on Chinese products will have on Americans’ pocketbooks and businesses’ bottom lines, and more specifically worries that his tariffs could cause a second consecutive quarter of economic contraction — the textbook definition of a recession.
Trump initially chided Welker for not asking him about “some people” on Wall Street who claim his policies will lead to “the greatest economy in history” or the “many people” who predict that the trade war will lead to “the greatest windfall to ever happen,” after which she pressed him again on whether it would be “ok” for the U.S. to go through a recession.
He replied that it would be.
“Look, yeah, it’s everything’s okay,” Trump said.
“I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically,” he added.
Asked whether he is “worried” about a recession, Trump said he was not.
“Anything can happen. But I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country. I think we’re going have the greatest economic boom in history,” he said.
Since he launched his so-called “liberation day” tariffs on April 2 and sent financial markets into upheaval, Trump has consistently blamed Biden for the turbulent stock market and poor economic data that has been released since then.
When The Independent pressed him during a Wednesday cabinet meeting on how he could honestly pin the dismal economic numbers reached during his second term on Biden when he so frequently took credit for stock market highs in the weeks and months before he took office, Trump replied that he was “not taking credit or discredit for the stock market” and instead continued to bash his predecessor for bequeathing him an economic “mess” even though economists said Biden had successfully guided the American economy to a soft landing after the Covid-19 pandemic sparked the highest inflation rate in decades during the first few years of his term.
“I’m just saying that we inherited a mess,” he said. “ You could look at every single one of the people here and no matter who it is, they’re doing better and they are far superior to what took place for four years before,” he said.
As the president marked his first 100 days in office this week, nearly half of Americans (46 percent) surveyed in April believe that Trump is more responsible for the unstable economy, up 3 percent from March, according to Gallup. This compares to the 27 percent who blame Biden, which remained the same as March’s survey.
When asked whether both are equally responsible, 21 percent agreed.
