Trump downplays recession fears, saying the U.S. would be 'OK' in the long term

[ad_1] President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed issues about potential financial bother, saying every little thing could be “OK” in the long run, even when the useconomy skilled a recession within the brief time period.

Requested twice by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker whether or not it might be OK in the long term if there have been a recession within the brief time period, the president mentioned, “Look, yeah, it’s — every little thing’s OK. What we're — I mentioned, it is a transition interval. I feel we’re going to do fantastically.”

Following up, Welker requested Trump if he was fearful a few recession, to which he responded, “No.” Requested whether or not he thinks one might occur, Trump replied, “Something can occur, however I feel we’re going to have the best financial system within the historical past of our nation.”

The remarks come as analysts on Wall Avenue are more and more fearful that the nation might face a recession as a consequence of Trump’s altering tariff coverage.

“Properly, you already know, you say, ‘Some individuals on Wall Avenue say’ — effectively, I inform you one thing else. Some individuals on Wall Avenue say that we’re going to have the best financial system in historical past. Why don’t you speak about them?” Trump mentioned throughout the interview at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“There are a lot of individuals 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. financial system shrank by 0.3% within the first quarter of 2025, a discount largely pushed by a fall in exports and a lift 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 financial system former President Joe Biden left behind.

“You most likely noticed some numbers at present,” Trump mentioned, “and I've to start out off by saying, that’s Biden.”

“That’s 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 every little thing that Biden was doing by way of the financial system, destroying our nation in so some ways.”

Because the 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 price on the Asian nation to 145%.

Nonetheless, the president has repeatedly dismissed issues that the tariffs on China could 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, “Anyone mentioned, ‘Oh, the cabinets are going to be open.’ Properly, perhaps the youngsters could have two dolls as an alternative of 30 dolls, you already know? And perhaps the 2 dolls will value a few bucks greater than they'd usually.”