U.S. President Donald Trump has not ruled out a recession in the world’s largest economy against the backdrop of growing concerns about its “America First” economic agenda.
In an interview with Fox News broadcast last Sunday, Trump was asked if he expected a recession this year, to which he chose to avoid answering.
“I don’t like to predict things like this. We are in a period of transition because what we are doing is very important. We are bringing wealth back to the United States. This is a big deal,” Trump said in an interview with the media program.
“It will take a little bit of time, but I think it should be a very good thing for us.”
Trump’s remarks come at a time when markets are uneasy about his repeated stance on tariff policy and signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy.
Last week, Trump announced a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, and raised the tariff rate on Chinese goods to 20%.
But just 48 hours later, he announced that he would postpone some tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods until April 2.
The benchmark S&P 500 index fell more than 3% between Monday and Friday, marking its worst week performance since September last year.
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDP tracker lowered its assessment of GDP for the January-March period to 2.4%, down from 2.3% last month.
On Friday, Goldman Sachs raised the probability of a recession in the United States in the next 12 months from 15% to 20%.
In terms of economic outlook, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that 151,000 new jobs were added in January, slightly lower than economists’ forecasts but roughly in line with the 2024 average.
In an interview with media outlet NBC later last Sunday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick refuted comments about a possible recession in the US economy.
“Trump will win. He will win for the American people. That’s how it is”, Lutnik said in an interview with the outlet’s program.
“There will be no recession in the United States.”
“I would never worry about a recession,” Lutnick added, “which is absolutely impossible.” ”