Kudrow panelists Steve Forbes and John Carney discuss how the Trump administration should respond to economic uncertainty.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs have rattled markets in recent weeks, spurring concerns about rising consumer prices and impact on the labor market, suggesting White House officials will defend their policies and ensure the economy will soon be sure.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, Trump’s top economic aide, said on CNBC’s “Scokebox” that Trump’s tariffs have come to China, Canada and Mexico on more about illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling, adding that the policy makes more sense once Trump’s mutual tariffs take effect on April 2nd.
“There will be some uncertainty between now and April 2nd, absolutely,” Hassett said Monday. “But when April comes, the markets will know that mutual trade policy makes a lot of sense.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said there was more certainty after the president’s mutual tariffs came into effect on April 2. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared in “Meet the Press” on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and was asked if he could guarantee “there is no recession on President Trump’s watch.”
Trump says we have “silly trade” rather than “free trade.”
“Well, Kristen, do you know there’s no guarantee like who’ll predict Covid? So I can predict that I’m putting in a durable and robust policy. And we’re saying that our big government can communicate our big spending.
“And on the other side, we are trying to revitalize the private sector, and we met with a small banker last week, and they are ready to start lending.
Trump threatens further tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, electricity and vehicles
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defend President Trump’s economic policies. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg Via/Getty Images)
Welker followed up and asked Bescent if his reference to an economy with “adjustment” could potentially lead to a recession.
“There’s no reason why it has to,” Bescent replied. “But if we kept this track, I can tell you that there would have been a financial crisis that I could guarantee. I researched and taught it, and if we had been catching up to these spending levels, everything would have been unsustainable.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS News last week that Trump’s “policy is the most important thing America has ever had.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised Trump’s policies in a recent interview. (Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images / Getty Images)
He added that the benefits of policy are “worthy” even if they lead to a recession. “The reason there may be a recession is because of Biden nonsense we had to live with. These policies generate revenue.
Karoline Leavitt says AP reporter “evidently” failed to grasp Trump’s tariff plans
Last week, White House press chief Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing on the press that the president “actually hasn’t implemented a tax hike,” Associated Press reporter Josh Balk responded to questions about Trump’s tariffs, saying, “Taxes are once again a foreign tax hike that has torn us apart.
Leavitt discussed the dust on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures over the weekend, telling host Maria Bartiromo that the president’s tariffs are intended to provide revenue that will allow for greater tax cuts.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt argued that tariffs are tax cuts for Americans. (Kevin Lamarck/Reuters)
“He (Borke) clearly can’t see President Trump’s long-term economic strategy. This is to bring so much income through tariffs, so much wealth to our country, and we can give Americans a bigger tax cut to bring more money back to their pockets,” Leavitt said.
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There is a wide agreement among economists that tariffs are taxes on imports normally paid by import companies, which pass on some or most of the tariffs to consumers in the form of higher prices.
