Tariffs, Inflation, Government Shutdown Hang Over the Economy as Trump Dodges Recession Questions

Over the past week, the new Trump administration has lost some of its braggadocio when it comes to the economy.

Gone are the promises of lowering prices on the first day Donald Trump returned to the White House. Gone are the pronouncements that economic growth will surge.

Instead, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday said in an appearance on CNBC: “Could we be seeing that this economy that we inherited starting to roll a bit? Sure. And look, there’s going to be a natural adjustment as we move away from public spending to private spending.”

Asked by Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday whether his economic policies – the imposition of high tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China and a chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk firing government employees at random – might lead to a recession, Trump deflected, saying, “I hate to predict things like that.”