As layoffs hit record levels, unemployment has risen to a near-four-year high, manufacturing continues to contract, and the U.S. faces “persistent” inflation, the White House says President Donald Trump will be sharing with the American people the “positive” news about jobs, incomes, and inflation.
“The American people don’t know how good they have it,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on “Face the Nation.” After blaming Democrats for “scarcity,” he insisted that “next year we’re going to move on to prosperity.”
Kevin Hassett, the Director of the White House’s National Economic Council told CNBC on Monday, “There’s a huge amount of positive news that the president is going to be breaking this week about the economy.”
READ MORE: ‘Chance Some of This Backfires’: GOP Grows Anxious Over Trump’s Redistricting Gambit
“And so there’s a lot of positive news that’s positive for people’s jobs, for people’s incomes, and for inflation. And President Trump is just going to go out there and remind people of that,” said Hassett, who is rumored to be in line to be Trump’s pick to head the Federal Reserve.
Once again, Hassett turned to Trump’s first term to offer positive examples.
Hassett said, “going back to the eye of the horizon … President Trump’s economic policies were profoundly popular just before COVID, in his first term, because he had $6,500 of income growth after the big tax cuts.”
He added that next year, “the typical person who’s got no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, is probably gonna see an extra $1,600 to $2,000. A lot of that will come as tax refunds in the beginning of the year.”
Hassett appeared aware that Trump’s polling on the economy is underwater.
READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes
“As Americans voice broad concerns about the economy,” The New York Times reported late last week, “Mr. Trump is facing discontent from across the political spectrum, with even some of his longest-serving allies raising complaints and urging the administration to refocus on economic issues.”
“Across surveys,” the Times added, “voters express frustration with the current state of the economy. A majority of voters said they had been hurt by Mr. Trump’s economy in the Fox News poll, and three-quarters of Americans said their grocery costs had gone up in the past year, according to polling from Marquette University Law School. Just 26 percent said Mr. Trump was doing a good job at managing the cost of living, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.”
But Hassett insisted that “people are going to look at their wallets and say, ‘Oh boy, this guy’s really making me better off.’ And in the end, that’s more important than any poll.”
READ MORE: Inside Trump’s ‘Golden Age’: Troubling New Trends Emerge
Image via Reuters