'Stark shift': Trump changes his tone on economy as admin heads for a 'colossal blunder'
Donald Trump has embraced a "wait until next year" approach after advisers privately warned him about bad economic numbers, according to reporting.
The conservative Wall Street Journal on Sunday published an article called, "Trump’s Team Hones Message on Economy: Just Wait Until 2026," in which the outlet reports that Trump advisers are working "to ease voter anxiety about weak jobs growth and stubborn inflation."
"President Trump’s advisers are counseling him to refine his economic message with a pitch to voters aimed at easing their anxiety about weak jobs growth and stubborn inflation," according to the report. "Their new mantra: Just wait until next year."
According to the Journal, advisers are pulling the president aside to push him not to dig in on the current economic outlook, and instead just kick the can down the road.
"In private conversations with the president, Trump’s advisers, rather than dwell on shaky economic data, have painted a rosy outlook, insisting that data will begin to improve in the first quarter of 2026, according to people familiar with the matter, including senior administration officials," the report states.
The report goes on to point out that Trump has lately been ignoring the economy, when that used to be one of his favorite topics.
"When Trump does talk about the economy, he often refers to the stock market and points to next year, at the earliest, when voters will start to feel his policies. 'Our big year won’t be really next year—it’ll be the year after,' Trump recently told reporters," the Wall Street Journal reported. "That represents a stark shift in messaging for Trump since his first weeks in office, when the economy was a centerpiece of his messaging."
But it's not all clear sailing with the new plan. The Journal also quotes an expert about the potential risks of the current administration strategy.
“The risk is that at some point a refusal to consider the full range of valid economic indicators in making policy will lead the administration into colossal blunder,” said Russell Riley, the co-chair of the presidential oral history program at the University of Virginia, according to the Journal's reporting.