President Donald Trump's chair of the Council of Economic Advisors said that he doesn't "see" a recession on the horizon, nor does he think there's a "trade war."
The denial came as Kevin Hassett was speaking with CNN's Poppy Harlow Thursday. Apple CEO Tim Cook blamed Trump and the trade war for the dramatic slump in Apple stock. Hassett blamed the slowing of the global economy but said that Trump's policies are the reason the United States isn't slowing. The problem is his words came just as CNN was showing the stock market had plunged more than 500 points this morning.
"There are a heck of a lot of U.S. companies that have sales in China that are going to be watching their earnings being downgraded next year until we get a deal with China," he said.
Not long before Hassett's statement, the president tweeted that Americans have scored "MANY billions of dollars" thanks to tariffs against China.
The problem, however, is that those tariffs were put on hold when Trump spoke with Chinese leaders at the G-20 meetings in November.
Harlow keyed in on the fact that Hassett seemed to be warning " what we may see in earnings season for all of these other big American companies that rely so much on the Chinese economy and what that earnings pressure could do to further hit U.S. markets."
She explained that China feeling the pressure from the tariffs makes it more likely they'll feel emboldened given what they're seeing in the U.S. markets.
"We're off 550 points this morning, she continued. "We saw the worst December for U.S. markets since the great depression."
With a big smile, Hassett dismissed it as a concern, even saying that there probably won't be a recession in 2020. It's been a prediction many economists have warned is on the horizon, simply due to the cycle of the economy. Trump's trade war could make that recession even worse, particularly if American companies that do work in China face greater challenges.
He also noted that the exploding deficit under Trump's leadership wasn't a big deal, but since the Republicans passed their tax cut they should probably start thinking about cutting spending.
Watch Harlow grill him in the video below:
