President Donald Trump sat down with Meet the Press host Kristen Welker for an interview that will air on Sunday, but the conversation is already very much in the news.
In a teaser that aired on MSNBC on Friday, Welker asked Trump about the economy, which contracted last quarter thanks in large part to the sweeping tariffs he unilaterally imposed on most imports. Specifically, the MTP host asked Trump if he’s “ok” if the economy enters a recession, which will happen if the current quarter yields negative GDP growth. The president initially dodged the question, but eventually answered, “Yeah.”
On Friday’s CNN NewsNight, host Abby Phillip aired the clip in question. But despite the video evidence, guest Erin Maguire (formerly, Erin Perrine) insisted that Trump – who said in February his tariffs could bring “pain” – did not actually say what he said.
Here is Trump’s exchange with Welker:
WELKER: Some people on Wall Street have expressed concerns that the possibility of a recession is increasing. And I wanna know what you think about that. Are you comfortable with the country potentially dipping into a recession for a period of time if you are able to achieve your long-term goals?TRUMP: 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 gonna have the greatest economy in history. Why don’t you talk
about them? Because some people on Wall Street say this–WELKER: Well, that’s what I’m getting at. That’s what I’m getting at, though. It’s the same question.TRUMP: There are many people on Wall Street say this is gonna be the greatest windfall ever happened.WELKER: And that’s my question. The long term. Is it ok in the short term to have a recession?TRUMP: Remember this. Look, uh, yeah. It’s– everything’s ok. What we are, I said this is a transition period. I think we’re gonna do fantastically.
Phillip called Trump’s comments “a recession confession.”
Maguire, however, insisted that Trump said no such thing:
He did what Donald Trump does, which is, he said, “Yeah.” Like, he said, “Yeah, ok.” But what he– he was not affirming her point. He was using it as a bridge word to the next point. He said everything’s fine. He said, “Everything’s fine and we’ll all be ok.”I would not have taken Donald Trump’s statement the way the media did, which was to say he said a recession would be ok. He did not, in any definitive terms, say a recession would be ok for the economy. So, the media getting all spun up over the word “ok” in the middle of a sentence, to a bridge where he said everything is fine.
That was not what he was saying. And so I think that we need a little bit of clarity here to, like, give the president the opportunity to say that was not what he said. He did not say a recession would be ok.
Maguire richly concluded, “So, let’s be honest.”
Watch above via CNN.