The Federal Reserve has been focused on cooling inflation and achieving a so-called soft landing. President Trump’s trade policies have sent markets reeling and fears of a recession are on the rise. WSJ’s Nick Timiraos joins Ryan Knutson and Molly Ball to discuss Trump’s economic vision. Plus, the Trump administration is moving to deport a permanent legal resident of the United States and the possibility of a government shutdown has Democrats in a pickle. Further Listening: - What’s Going On With the Economy - Tesla Has a Problem: Elon Musk - The Fight to Kick Soda Out of Food Stamps Further Reading: - How Trump 2.0 Is Shifting Its Tone on Markets - A Presidency of Upheaval Emboldens Trump Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
All right, Molly, we have made it past the halfway point.
That's right. We hit a big milestone this week. In the first 100 days, we have passed day 50.
How much has Trump accomplished in his first 50 days compared to how much most presidents accomplished in the first 100? Has he set a new land speed record?
Look, there's no question that this has been an action-packed and eventful first 50 days of the Trump presidency. He has signed a record number of executive orders. At the same time, he has not passed a lot of legislation. And especially considering that he does have, you know, majorities in the House and Senate, the legislative agenda is strikingly modest.
But one of the things he's very good at is creating the impression of action, creating the impression of So that people feel like he's doing stuff. And that's a big, I think, part of the Trump political profile is just this idea that he's a strong leader. He's a man of action.
Well, all of this action is starting to create a reaction in the stock market and the broader economy, which is the main thing that I wanted to talk about today. But first of all, can you just remind us how important was the economy to Trump's presidential campaign and ultimate re-election?
In exit polls, voters said that the number one issue for the plurality of voters was the economy, specifically prices. And they rated Trump much better on that issue than his opponent, Kamala Harris. And I think in a bigger sense, the economy has always been central to Trump's political brand. He's seen as a businessman. He's seen as someone who has a command of the economy.
And when voters look back on his first term, the principal thing that they remember is that the economy was good.
And so far, is this the economy that voters were expecting?
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