Trump: We have the 'greatest economy' ever
Democrats may be anticipating a massive blue wave during the November midterm elections, but according to President Trump, the strong U.S. economy will likely propel Republicans to victory.
“History says that whoever’s president always seems to lose the midterm,” Trump said on Tuesday during an interview with FOX Business’ Trish Regan. “No one had the economy that we do. We have the greatest economy that we’ve ever had.”
Although critics of the White House often credit the roaring economy to the Obama administration – including former President Barack Obama, who in September said the economic recovery began while he was in the White House – Trump warned that if the “opposition” had won the 2016 presidential election, there would be more rules and regulations in place.
“They would’ve done things with taxes that would’ve been a disaster,” he said in an interview on “Trish Regan Primetime.” “Raised taxes, they were all going to raise taxes.”
In December, Trump signed into law a business-friendly tax overhaul (the largest since Ronald Reagan was in the Oval Office) that permanently slashed the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent.
In the second quarter of 2018, the U.S. economy advanced by a rate of 4.2 percent, the strongest since the third quarter of 2014, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. GDP Now, an up-to-date tracker monitored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, is currently estimating third-quarter growth of 4 percent.
“We had 4.2 percent last quarter, and everybody said that’s impossible,” Trump said. “Had the opposition gotten in, you would be at minus 4.2 [percent]. You would be so low, you would have job numbers that would be so bad, you would have companies leaving this country. They were flowing out of this country, now they’re flowing in. Whenever I hear that, I say, ‘Isn’t it sad?’”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has also signaled an optimistic note on the economy, saying during a press conference in early October that the combination of record-low unemployment and low inflation shows the country is going through “extraordinary times.” He maintained the central bank’s position of gradually raising interest rates.