(The Hill) — President Trump discussed the possibility of a U.S. recession in a recent interview, acknowledging that while “anything can happen,” he believes the country’s economy will be stable in the long run.
Speaking with NBC’s “Meet The Press,” in an interview scheduled to air completely on Sunday, Trump initially played down worries about an impending recession.
“Consider this. Yes, everything’s fine. We are in what I call a transition period, but I’m confident we will excel,” Trump assured moderator Kristen Welker on Friday.
He then responded in the negative when asked by Welker whether he is concerned about an economic recession.
When Welker then asked if it might take place, Trump said “anything can happen, but I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country.”
With Trump’s tariffs looming over the global economy, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank during the first quarter of 2025 by 0.3 percent. Some of the biggest titans and analysts on Wall Street have cautioned that the country could head into a recession due to the president’s sweeping trade policies,
“Well, you know, you say, some people on Wall Street say… Well, I tell you something else. Some people on Wall Street say that we’re going to have the greatest economy in history. Why don’t you talk about them?” Trump asked Welker during the interview.
Trump pinned the volatility in the stock market on former President Biden and denied that the turbulence ensued because of the tariffs.
“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang,’” Trump wrote on Wednesday.
Trump first upset the world’s trade alignment by first imposing tariffs on the U.S.’s biggest trading partners, Mexico, Canada and China. He then imposed large reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries.
He halted the sweeping tariffs for most countries for 90 days to leave room for negotiations, but kept flat 10 percent import tax. Trump also escalated the trade war with China, hiking duties to 145 percent on all goods that come from the world’s second-largest economy.
