An economic fellow at the far-right Heritage Foundation who previously worked for Donald Trump admitted Tuesday that the economic situation isn't strong in the president's second term.
“I am really concerned about consumer confidence. That’s a bad sign. It means people are going to stop spending,” Stephen Moore told CNN.
In the interview, Moore said he is "concerned" about the stock market's multi-day drop and fears that the economy will shrink during the first economic quarter of the Trump presidency.
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He also told CNN that the chances of a recession have increased.
Polymarket, where traders wager on the likelihood of events, puts the odds of a recession in 2025 at 40%. That's double where it was just a few weeks into Trump's presidency, NBC News reported Monday.
“I do not believe a recession is inevitable. If we get a trade deal done, we could see a big snapback,” Moore said.
That's assuming that the trade war doesn't last long enough for major companies to relocate factories and jobs, CNN said.
The Heritage Foundation is behind Project 2025, a plan that's considered a policy roadmap for Trump's second term.
