'What would you have him do?' Trump aide flails on ABC after tariffs 'tank the market'

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett insisted that President Donald Trump did not intend to "tank" the stock market, even though his boss suggested otherwise on social media.

In a Sunday interview on ABC's This Week program, Hassett defended Trump's tariffs by pointing to the president's campaign.

"President Trump, true to his word, just like he promised during the campaign, just like he put into his campaign platform, he's delivering on his word," he insisted.

"But you also he also said prices were going to come down, and he just conceded the prices are going to go up," host George Stephanopoulos pointed out. "Also, on Truth Social, the president retweeted a post that said the market drop was part of a deliberate strategy to force the Fed to lower interest rates."

"Is that the president's strategy?" the host asked. "If not, why did he post it?"

"You know, the bottom line is the president has been talking about tariffs for 40 years," Hassett said dismissively. "And, you know, the cyclical cycle of the Fed, it comes and goes. That's a different matter."

"So the President's allowed to have an opinion," he added.

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"So that is his strategy?" Stephanopoulos pressed. "Tank the markets so the Fed lowers interest rates."

"No, no, no!" Hassett exclaimed.

"Well, you just said the President's allowed to have an opinion," the host noted. "Is that his opinion or not?"

"He's not trying to take the market," Hassett replied. "I mean, what would you have him do?"

"I'm just trying to get some clarity," Stephanopoulos explained. "Is that the President's strategy?"

"It's not a strategy for the markets to crash," Hassett repeated despite Trump's posting. "It's a strategy to create a golden age in America for the American worker."

Watch the video below from ABC.