Trump responds to market meltdown

Business & Economy

The Big Story

White House touts record after Trump demurs on recession

The Trump administration is attempting to restore confidence in the economy after a brutal day for Wall Street.

President Trump is facing mounting concerns about the economy as the stock market bleeds and the costs of his trade war pile up.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, the White House sought to highlight various reasons to feel confident in the economy amid a steady drumbeat of concern.

“Since President Trump was elected, industry leaders have responded to President Trump’s America First economic agenda of tariffs, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy with trillions in investment commitments that will create thousands of new jobs," the White House said.

"President Trump delivered historic job, wage, and investment growth in his first term, and is set to do so again in his second term."

The White House statement was a notable shift in tone from Trump's remarks in a Sunday interview with Fox Business News, in which he demurred on the potential for the U.S. to hit a recession.

“I hate to predict things like that,” Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” when asked if he expected a recession this year.

“There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing. And there are always periods of — it takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great.”

Trump's comments follow mounting concern on Wall Street and among Senate Republicans about the impact of his economic agenda.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, I'm Sylvan Lane — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Tax Watch

Welcome to Tax Watch, a new feature in The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter focused on the fight over tax reform and the push to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts this year.

Tax committee endorses current law baseline for Trump tax extensions

The official scorer of U.S. tax legislation says it will tabulate the costs of extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts based on current law despite a push from congressional Republicans to do it based on current policy.

Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) chief of staff Thomas Barthold endorsed the current law accounting baseline last week in response to a letter from five Democratic senators, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Peter Welch (Vt.).

“The Joint Committee staff would provide the estimate relative to the relevant present law baseline reporting for the 10-year budget period,” Barthold wrote.

If the JCT considered the expiring tax cuts as extending indefinitely into the future, as some Republicans have argued, it would mean that their $4.7 trillion price tag could effectively be ignored in the legislative math.

Some Republicans have cried foul on this method, with Ways and Means committee member David Schweikert (Ariz.) going so far as to label it intellectually fraudulent.

— Tobias Burns

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