According to a report from ABC, Donald Trump's economic advisers are baffled about how to stop what appears to be a recession coming before the 2020 election after his trade war upset an already teetering worldwide economy.
With the report noting that Trump had hoped to run on a strong economy as part of his 2020 re-election strategy, warnings from economists that a recession may arrive before then has White House officials in a panic.
"The financial markets signaled the possibility of a U.S. recession this week, sending a jolt of anxiety to investors, companies and consumers. That's on top of concerns over Trump's plans to impose punishing tariffs on goods from China and word from the United Kingdom and Germany that their economies are shrinking," the report states, adding, "Trump advisers fear a weakened economy would hurt him with moderate Republican and independent voters who have been willing to give him a pass on some his incendiary policies and rhetoric."
Bedeviling the president's advisors is a lack of ideas about how to halt the slide into a re-election-killing economy.
"White House economic advisers see few options for reversing course should the economy start to slip," the report states before saying the president, for the money, is looking to spread blame elsewhere.
"Trump has taken to blaming others for the recession fears, mostly the Federal Reserve, which he is pushing for further interest rate cuts. Yet much of the uncertainty in the markets stems from his own escalation of a trade war with China, as well as weakened economies in key countries around the world," ABC reports. "Aides acknowledge it is unclear what steps the White House could take to stop a downturn. Trump's 2017 tax cut proved so politically unpopular that many Republicans ran away from it during last year's midterms. And a new stimulus spending program could spark intraparty fighting over big deficits."
Trump attempted to lower expectations about his performance during a MAGArally in New Hampshire this week, telling his fans, ""You have no choice but to vote for me because your 401(k), everything is going to be down the tubes. Whether you love me or hate me, you've got to vote for me."
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