The warning lights of a coming recession are blinking faster, and you can almost feel the panic from the White House. Even President Donald Trump, who has built a career on projecting unearned confidence, is showing cracks. During a Fox News interview this weekend, host Maria Bartiromo asked him whether he expects a recession this year. Trump paused, taking an uncharacteristic level of care with his words. "I hate to predict things like that," he said. "There is a period of transition, because what we're doing is very big." Other administration officials are blaming Joe Biden for economic trouble. "We've got a Biden economy," said National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett. Any troubling economic data, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, is "Biden data," since "Biden left [Trump] a pile of poop." What Biden actually left was tamed inflation, steady economic expansion, and an unprecedented period of job growth, with a record 16 million jobs created in just one presidential term. This is a preview of Paul Waldman's latest article. Read the full column here. |
