‘Really Striking!’ CNN Reporter Shocked Trump Made Eyebrow-Raising Remarks On Fox News — And Did It Again On AF1

CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene said it was “really striking” that President Donald Trump would make eyebrow-raising remarks about a recession on Fox News — and then do it again on Air Force One.

Trump made the comments to Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo in an interview that aired on this week’s edition of Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures in which he refused to rule out a recession.

Hours later, Trump emerged into the press cabin aboard Air Force One to speak with reporters and stood by that answer, saying “Who knows” if there will be a recession and predicting a windfall from tariffs

On Monday’s edition of CNN News Central, Treene told anchor Sara Sidner it was surprising that Trump would not only make such provocative remarks, but that he’d do it twice:

SIDNER: All right. All of the recession talk happening as Trump is also now warning tariffs against Mexico and Canada could go up.

Alayna Treene is at the White House for us. Alayna, is this the pain and disruption, as he once called it, that Trump has been warning about? Because it sounds like his advisers are not on the same page with this idea of recession.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. Look what I found really striking about those comments actually is he not only made those saying that, you know, not ruling out a recession or even prices going even higher at a time when, of course, several Americans across the country are really concerned about higher prices. He couldn’t say that they wouldn’t go up.

He also refused to rule out a recession.

But it wasn’t only on Fox News that he did that. He then later was asked about this on Air Force One yesterday when he was returning to the White House from Florida and doubled down on that, saying that, you know, he doesn’t like to predict these things and wouldn’t rule it out.

Now, one thing that’s been also very interesting to me, Sara, is how different some of this rhetoric is from what he used to have in his first term. One is that he continues to argue that his tariff policy, his broader economic agenda is really forward-looking. He’s been arguing as well that you shouldn’t be paying as much attention to the stock market. But what I remember during his first term, he used to dictate a lot of the decisions and policies that he made based on how the stock market was performing.

But one person I can tell you who is watching the stock market very closely is his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick. He’s been commenting on it almost daily now. But he is having a different, what you mentioned, he does have a little bit of a different response to the recession question. He argued over the weekend that he does not believe a recession is going to happen. He said, no chance. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: If fentanyl ends, I think these will come off. But if fentanyl does not end, or he’s uncertain about it, they will stay this way until he is comfortable. Foreign goods may get a little more expensive, but American goods are going to get cheaper, and you’re going to be helping Americans by buying American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, that’s really him trying to defend the tariffs, of course, and really the whiplash we’ve seen of them being imposed first in February. Then they’re having a one month pause, then being imposed again last week before pausing tariffs on automakers for a month and then also pausing any tariffs that apply to or fall into goods that fall into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement, of course an agreement that the president himself negotiated during his first term.

And that’s really what all this is about. We really have seen this kind of start and stop tariff policy creating a lot of uncertainty. I’m going to be talking about uncertainty in the market, something that many economists have warned, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, that it could lead to a recession in the next 12 months.

But, again, really, the way that the president is viewing this, and he is telling his Trump administration top secretaries and officials, is not to worry about it too much right now and really wanting to look toward that long-term agenda. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting there from the White House for us this morning.

Watch above via CNN News Central.