Tag: U.S. economy

Wall Street ends volatile month in major test for Trump

The Hill logoWall Street ended a wild August with the Dow up slightly on Friday, capping a tumultuous month for the global economy that spurred a wave of volatility in financial markets and posed a challenge for President Trump.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 index and Nasdaq closed the final day of August trading little changed from their Friday opens, with the Dow and S&P up only 0.2 and 0.1 percent, respectively.

But the three indices were well below their levels at the start of the month after a notoriously rough stretch for Wall Street. The Dow fell 1.76 percent in August, down 474 points. The index this month suffered two of its seven largest point losses, falling by 800 points on Aug. 14 and 767 points on Aug. 5.

View the complete August 30 article by Sylvan Lane on The Hill website.

Republicans grow anxious about the Trump economy

Trump’s trade war with China could undermine GOP chances of holding the White House and Senate in 2020.

Republicans have sat patiently with President Donald Trump on his tariff roller-coaster ride with China. Now they’re starting to feel queasy.

Trump argues his escalating trade war will force China to the table for a deal. But his ever-rising tariffs — and his market-rattling tweets — are increasingly alarming the GOP.

View the complete August 29 article by Burgess Everett on the Politico website here.

New data challenges Trump’s economic narrative

The Hill logoPresident Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. economy under his watch has been extraordinary.

His tweeted descriptors have included “BOOMING,” “GREAT,” “stronger than ever” and “perhaps the greatest ECONOMY and most successful first two years of any President in history.”

But a slew of recent data suggests the Trump economy has fared no differently than other expansions at this stage. And those same numbers indicate the president’s economy may be headed toward a downturn.

View the complete August 25 article by Niv Elis on The Hill website here.

Conservatives push Trump tariff relief over payroll tax cuts

The Hill logoThe best way for President Trump to boost the economy would be to roll back tariffs, not push for a payroll tax cut, according to right-leaning analysts and conservative groups.

Trump has made conflicting remarks this week about his desire for a payroll tax cut amid increased warning signs of a looming recession. His most recent position is that he’s not currently looking at it.

Economists and right-of-center groups argue that now is not the time to pursue a reduction in payroll taxes, mainly because that kind of tax cut wouldn’t fix the economy’s trouble spots.

View the complete August 23 article by Naomi Jagoda on The Hill website here.

China announces new tariffs on $75B in US goods

The Hill logoChina announced Friday it will impose tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods, the latest salvo in the year-plus trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

The country’s State Council said tariffs of 5 percent to 10 percent will be imposed on a variety of American goods in two batches, with the first going into effect next month and a second scheduled for December, multiple media outlets reported, citing state-run media.

The second batch of tariffs will reportedly include a 25 percent tariff on all U.S. automobiles.

View the complete August 23 article by John Bowden on The Hill website here.

The month a shadow fell on Trump’s economy

Washington Post logoFaced with internal warnings about a slowdown, President Trump pursued chaotic, contradictory responses.

Top White House advisers notified President Trump earlier this month that some internal forecasts showed that the economy could slow markedly over the next year, stopping short of a recession but complicating his path to reelection in 2020.

The private forecast, one of several delivered to Trump and described by three people familiar with the briefing, contrasts sharply with the triumphant rhetoric the president and his surrogates have repeatedly used to describe the economy.

Even as his aides warn of a business climate at risk of faltering, the president has been portraying the economy to the public as “phenomenal” and “incredible.” He has told aides that he thinks he can convince Americans that the economy is vibrant and unrattled through a public messaging campaign. But the internal and external warnings that the economy could slip have contributed to a muddled and often contradictory message.

View the complete August 22 article by Damian Paletta, Robert Costa, Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker on The Washington Post website here.

Fact-checking President Trump’s remarks on the economy

Washington Post logoIt’s been a while since we’ve done a roundup of President Trump’s claims. We usually handle the president’s various gaggle and media availabilities in our database of false and misleading claims. (12,019 and counting!) But, given the attention to the worsening economic news, we thought a roundup of claims made during his press availability with the Romanian president on Aug. 20 would be appropriate. Some of these statements are already in the database; some of them are new. We will keep it focused on the economy except for the last item.

The Federal Reserve “also did quantitative tightening, which was ridiculous. And so — and despite that — you know, if you look — I guess you could call it normalized, but if you look, our economy is doing fantastically, and if you take a look at the previous administration, they weren’t paying interest. They had no interest rates, they had loosening, not tightening, and frankly it’s a big difference.” Continue reading “Fact-checking President Trump’s remarks on the economy”

Trump team braces GOP donors for a potential ‘moderate and short’ recession

The White House is weighing cuts to corporate and payroll taxes, among other measures, to cushion the U.S. economy if an election-year recession hits.

In public, President Donald Trump and top White House officials keep extolling the strength of the U.S. economy. In private, they’re increasingly worrying about a global economic slowdown triggering a U.S. recession — and weighing options to shore up the economy ahead of an election year.

At a fundraising luncheon this week in Jackson, Wyo., headlined by both Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged the risks to the GOP elite behind closed doors. If the U.S. were to face a recession, it would be “moderate and short,” Mulvaney told roughly 50 donors, according to an attendee. Continue reading “Trump team braces GOP donors for a potential ‘moderate and short’ recession”

Trump adopts familiar mantra on possible recession: fake news

The Hill logoPresident Trump and his advisers are adopting a familiar mantra when it comes to mounting concerns about the economy: It’s all fake news.

Trump has dismissed concerns over a possible recession and accused the press of manufacturing a crisis and “doing everything they can to crash the economy” so he doesn’t win in 2020.

“I don’t think we’re having a recession. We’re doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich. I gave a tremendous tax cut, and they’re loaded up with money,” Trump told reporters Sunday evening before returning to the White House from a 10-day stay at his New Jersey golf club.

View the complete article by Morgan Chalfant and Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

In Economic Warning Signals, Trump Sees Signs of a Conspiracy

New York Times logoPresident Trump, confronting perhaps the most ominous economic signs of his time in office, has unleashed what is by now a familiar response: lashing out at what he believes is a conspiracy of forces arrayed against him.

He has insisted that his own handpicked Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, is intentionally acting against him. He has said other countries, including allies, are working to hurt American economic interests. And he has accused the news media of trying to create a recession.

“The Fake News Media is doing everything they can to crash the economy because they think that will be bad for me and my re-election,” Mr. Trump tweeted last week. “The problem they have is that the economy is way too strong and we will soon be winning big on Trade, and everyone knows that, including China!”

View the complete August 18 article by Maggie Haberman on The New York Times website here.