Trump: US recession this year not ruled out

Trump said: "Building a strong America is what I have to do, and I have no time to care about the feelings of the stock market. China makes plans for a hundred years, while the United States makes plans on a quarterly basis. This does not work. I have to do the right thing."

U.S. President Trump told Fox News on Sunday (March 9) that his tariffs and trade policies may bring "some turbulence" and he did not rule out the possibility of a U.S. recession this year.

Trump told Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures program: "I hate predicting these kinds of things. People will see a transition period because what we are doing is very important and we are bringing wealth back to the United States."

The recorded interview was conducted after Trump's tariffs hit the U.S. stock market. The Trump administration first imposed a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian goods, then delayed the implementation of some of these tariffs for a month, when Trump will announce "reciprocal tariffs" on other countries. As of press time, the three major U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday, and all three major indexes have turned from rising to falling this year. The erratic tariff policy has made investors uneasy. Tariffs may lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers, and signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy have also raised concerns about a recession. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on another TV show on Sunday that a recession "absolutely will not" come.  

“There will not be a recession in the United States,” Lutnick said on NBC’s Meet the Press. He said Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ will eventually drive down prices and bring an economic boom to the United States. “There will be a series of spectacular growth in the U.S. economy over the next two years, and I would never bet on a recession,” Lutnick said.

Lutnick also confirmed that Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, including Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum, will take effect on Wednesday, and “reciprocal tariffs” will take effect on April 2. Lutnick said Trump will negotiate with relevant countries separately to reduce other countries’ trade barriers for American farmers, ranchers and fishermen. Trump said on Friday that the “reciprocal tariffs” imposed on Canadian dairy products and lumber could be as high as 250%.

Will these policies create distortions? Of course they will, foreign goods may become a little more expensive, but American goods will become cheaper, and you can help Americans by buying American goods," Lutnick said.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on ABC's This Week that Trump's tariffs will drive job growth. "President Trump wants to bring jobs back to America, bring wealth back to America, and bring wages back to America," he said.

Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin told NBC that she is not against tariffs, but what she objects to is the way Trump handles them. "His inconsistency will only bring chaos," Slotkin said.

Michigan may be one of the states most affected by tariffs due to its location, manufacturing and agriculture, and its largest market is Canada. "So I'd like to see Trump approach tariffs in a more flexible way, rather than swinging a sledgehammer," Slotkin said.

"Global trade policy right now is very, very unbalanced, with U.S. goods being subject to high tariffs by other countries and very low tariffs by the United States on other countries' goods," Hassett said.

Trump also raised tariffs on Chinese goods by a further 10% last week to 20%.

When asked if he could provide more clarity to the business community about tariffs, Trump told Fox News that they probably wouldn't go down and would probably go up over time. Trump said: "Building a strong America is what I have to do. I can't care about the feelings of the stock market. China has made a 100-year plan, while the United States has made plans on a quarterly basis. This doesn't work. I have to do the right thing."

The Trump administration is also cutting staffing and budgets of federal agencies, but the "Government Efficiency Department" led by Musk has encountered some resistance. Some measures to freeze spending and layoffs have been rejected by the court, and agency heads are fighting back.

According to the New York Times, Musk had a dispute with senior cabinet officials at a meeting last week, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The report said that Musk and Rubio clashed over layoffs.

Trump later posted on his social media account that Musk and Rubio had a "good relationship."

White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters on Sunday that Trump had dinner with Rubio and Musk at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, and Fox News host Sean Hannity also visited briefly.