Trump downplays talk of a recession after his economic advisers say fears unfounded

The comments come amid concerns of a global economic slowdown that could potentially threaten Trump’s 2020 reelection bid. The economy has been an important talking point for the President, who often invokes its growth as a way to boost his administration’s popularity. Though the US economy, for now, remains on stable ground, five of the world’s biggest economies are at risk of a recession, and a week of whiplash on Wall Street spiked fears the US economy could be dragged down too.

“If I wanted to make a bad deal and settle on China, the market would go up. But it wouldn’t be the right thing to do,” he explained. “I’m just not ready to make a deal, China would like to make a deal, I’m not ready.”

Trump economic advisers say US not cusp of recession

“No, I don’t see a recession. And let me add just one theme … Just one theme. We’re doing pretty darn well, in my judgment. Let’s not be afraid of optimism,” Larry Kudlow, the White House’s chief economic adviser, told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet The Press.” In a separate appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Kudlow told host Dana Perino that he didn’t see a recession “at all.”

Earlier Sunday, the two officials sought to draw positive attention to the US economy, with Navarro telling Tapper, “What we see now is foreign capital coming to the best game on the globe, which is the Trump economy. It’s going into our stock market.”

Kudlow also looked to refocus attention on economic gains under Trump, saying on NBC, “We had some blockbuster retail sales, consumer numbers towards the back end of last week. Really blockbuster numbers.”

He said despite the worries about a volatile stock market, “most economists on Wall Street towards the end of the week had been marking up their forecasts for the third and fourth quarter. That echoes our view.”