CNN
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President Donald Trump said the US economy is a mixture of his enacted policies and the effects of the Biden administration in a wide-ranging interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.”
“I think the good parts are the ‘Trump economy’ and the bad parts are the ‘Biden economy’ because he’s done a terrible job,” Trump said in the interview that aired Sunday.
Trump recently completed his first 100 days in office, with 66% of Americans saying they are pessimistic (29%) or afraid (37%) about the economy, according to a CNN/SSRS poll released Monday. Just 34% say they feel enthusiastic or optimistic. Overall, 69% of the public considers an economic recession in the next year to be at least somewhat likely, including 32% who say that’s very likely.
Trump took credit for bringing costs down. “I was able to get down the costs. But even that, it takes a while to get them down. But we got them down good,” he said.
Average grocery prices were about 2.41% higher in March 2025 than they were in March 2024, Consumer Price Index data shows. This was the highest year-over-year grocery inflation rate since August 2023.
Welker asked Trump if he would “take responsibility” for the volatile stock market, which steeply declined after he announced sweeping, reciprocal tariffs.
“I’ve only just been here for a little more than three months. But the stock market, look at what’s happened in the last short period of time. Didn’t it have nine or 10 days in a row, or 11 days, where it’s gone up? And the tariffs have just started kicking in. And we’re doing really well,” Trump said.
On Friday, the S&P 500 closed at 5,686.67, down 6% since January 21, the first trading session of Trump’s term. On April 9, the S&P surged 9.5%, its best daily performance in nearly 17 years, after Trump paused tariffs on most nations.
“What’s going to happen with the market? I can’t tell you, but I can tell you, our country has gotten a lot stronger, and eventually it’ll be a country like no other,” Trump said on April 6, while downplaying stock losses and adding, “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Trump has provided little reassurance to Americans and business owners about the short- and long-term effects of his economic policies, like the imposed 145% tariff on Chinese imports, the removal of the de minimis exemption, rounds of tariffs on auto imports and a universal 10% tariff rate during the 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs.
Welker asked Trump, “You’re not taking the possibility that (some of) these tariffs could be permanent off the table?”
“No, I wouldn’t do that. Because if somebody thought they were going to come off the table, why would they build in the United States?” Trump said.
While he’s provided some relief to major companies, particularly car makers that received delays on tariffs and are now allowed some reimbursements on imported car parts, Trump declined to provide relief for small businesses.
“They’re not going to need it,” he told Welker.
Trump said he does “take responsibility for everything,” adding that “the tariffs are going to make us rich. We’re going to be a very rich country.”
But concerns about the impact of tariffs have caused an increasing number of Americans to worry about a potential recession.
In April, JPMorgan said the odds of a recession were 60%, up from 40%. Goldman Sachs said the odds of a recession were 45%.
“Everything’s OK,” Trump told Welker. “This is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”
Trump added that he is not worried about a recession. But when asked if he thinks a recession could happen, he said, “Anything can happen.”
Welker asked Trump about rising prices on goods due to tariffs. Trump said consumers may need to purchase fewer goods.
“I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs … to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable,” Trump said.
Amid his ongoing battle with the economy, Trump has repeatedly attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates quickly enough. He recently called Powell “a major loser” whose “termination cannot come soon enough.”
The comments left some wondering if Trump would attempt to fire Powell before the Fed chair’s term ends in 2026. Trump has said he has “no intention of firing” Powell.
In the interview with Welker, Trump reiterated that he would not fire Powell, saying that he will already “get to change him very quickly anyway.”
Powell has said the law does not permit a president to remove a Fed chair. Most legal scholars agree with Powell on this point, with exceptions for extraordinary circumstances, such as illegal behavior.
