Amid dismal economic reports about slowing job growth and rising inflation from tariffs, President Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, insisted in a new interview on Newsmax that Trump's policies were going to cause an economic boom — but next year.
"The August job numbers weren't good, 22,000. What do you make of that?" anchor Rob Schmitt told Lutnick. To which he responded, "Our economy, the Donald Trump economy, is coming in the beginning of next year."
This answer drew scorn and mockery from commenters on social media.
"2029 at this rate," wrote hedge fund manager and frequent Trump critic Spencer Hakimian.
"Old enough to remember when the promise was 'Day One' of the administration But @POTUS is making Americans poorer," wrote former Biden administration White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates.
"Who can possibly believe this huckster?" wrote retired University of Kentucky media professor John F. Clark.
"When Mr Trump can't face the real issues of people financially struggling in the now, he just blames somebody else or moves the solution forward by a year claiming that's when these new 'companies' will just burst out of nowhere," wrote author John T. Marohn. "What companies and where are still a mystery."