{"id":136162,"date":"2025-05-04T14:17:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T14:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-rejects-concerns-about-prices-and-economic-uncertainty-as-he-defends-his-agenda-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-05-04T14:17:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T14:17:03","slug":"trump-rejects-concerns-about-prices-and-economic-uncertainty-as-he-defends-his-agenda-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-rejects-concerns-about-prices-and-economic-uncertainty-as-he-defends-his-agenda-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump rejects concerns about prices and economic uncertainty as he defends his agenda – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Trump rejects concerns about prices, weighs in on a third term and talks about the fate of TikTok<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump played down the fears of his critics \u2014 from the potential harms of a recession to worries about rising prices due to his tariffs to the possibility that he would seek a constitutionally forbidden third term \u2014 in a wide-ranging interview with NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Kristen Welker at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
The hour-plus back-and-forth, which aired Sunday, covered the waterfront of his first 100 days in office and what he expects to accomplish in the coming years on the economy, foreign policy, immigration and social policy. He also reflected on his Make America Great America movement, which helped return him to the White House after his 2020 defeat, and expressed confidence that it would remain intact beyond his term.
With his approval numbers sliding modestly<\/a> amid a flurry of executive actions \u2014 which <\/strong>have tested the constitutional limits of presidential power over the size and scope of the government, the due process rights of noncitizens and the punishment of political opponents \u2014 Trump waved away concerns about rising prices on some goods in the wake of his expansive program of tariffs.
Asked about small businesses concerned about pain from the tariffs on Chinese goods, Trump said \u201cmany businesses are being helped\u201d and that there was no need for the relief some small businesses are seeking<\/a>. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to need it. They\u2019re going to make so much money,\u201d he said.
He suggested that Americans ought to be able to make do with fewer common goods, like dolls or pencils. Asked about rising prices on items like tires or strollers<\/a>, Trump pivoted to gasoline, saying that was \u201cthousands of times more important.\u201d
And overall, he answered questions about current economic uncertainty by blaming his predecessor and promising a stronger future after some \u201ctransition\u201d bumps.
Yet Trump appeared eager to offer words of reassurance to Americans who worry he is dismantling democratic protections against authoritarianism and angling to stay in the presidency indefinitely.
\u201cSo many people want me to do it,\u201d Trump said of seeking a third term<\/a> despite the 22nd Amendment\u2019s limit of two full terms. But, he added, \u201cit\u2019s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you\u2019re not allowed to do. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s constitutional \u2026 But this is not something I\u2019m looking to do.\u201d
Trump declined to name a single heir to his MAGA movement, mentioning Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors, but he predicted that it will continue when he is no longer president. And he said Vance could have the inside track.
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of them that are great. I also see tremendous unity. But certainly you would say that somebody\u2019s the VP, if that person is outstanding, I guess that person would have an advantage,\u201d Trump said.
As Trump looks forward to a future that he believes will be strong for Republicans, he has used his power to target universities, law firms and other institutions that have been critical of him or opposed his policies. Asked by Welker whether he believes dissent is an \u201cessential part of democracy,\u201d Trump replied that it is \u201ca part of democracy.\u201d
Despite signing executive orders instructing his Justice Department to investigate adversaries, Trump told Welker that he is not pressuring his appointees to do that and that he \u201cabsolutely\u201d believes people should be able to criticize him without fearing reprisal.
\u201cYeah, I do,\u201d he said.
In the opening months of his presidency, Trump has made significant progress already on one of the twin pillars of his campaign platform: curbing illegal immigration. On his first day in office, he declared a national emergency<\/a> to increase his powers to secure the U.S. border with Mexico. While federal courts have intervened to slow down his mass-deportation efforts \u2014 citing the Constitution\u2019s guarantee of due process<\/a> \u2014 the number of people crossing the U.S. border without visas has plummeted, according to government data.
\u201cThe border now is not the emergency,\u201d he told Welker when she asked whether he would lift that determination. \u201cThe border is \u2014 it\u2019s all part of the same thing though. The big emergency right now is that we have thousands of people that we want to take out, and we have some judges that want everybody to go to court.\u201d
He added that he has no plans to end the emergency declaration.
\u201cNo, no, no,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have an emergency. We have a massive emergency overall.\u201d
The other main vow of his campaign \u2014 to end inflation and turbo-boost the American economy \u2014 has proved more elusive.
Inflation rates have subsided some during Trump\u2019s presidency, falling from 3% year over year to 2.4<\/a>%<\/a>. But Trump\u2019s claims about price reductions do not match up with the reality of persistent inflation. In the interview, he repeated a false assertion that gas has dropped to less than $2 per gallon in some states, which does not reflect the prices consumers are paying at the pump.
In a troubling sign, the U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter of 2025 at an annualized rate of three-tenths of a percentage point, marking the first negative growth<\/a> since the first quarter of 2022. Much of that was driven by a surge in imports, which count against gross domestic product, as businesses raced to bring in goods before Trump\u2019s tariffs took effect.
Though he campaigned on providing immediate economic relief to consumers, Trump has described recent pain as part of a \u201ctransition\u201d period. He argues that the tariffs will ultimately lower the U.S. trade deficit, result in revenue for the government and improve the domestic economy.
\u201cWe don\u2019t have to waste money on a trade deficit with China for things we don\u2019t need, for junk that we don\u2019t need,\u201d Trump said.
Critics say the tariffs will increase the costs of staples and desired luxury items, with high prices passed on to consumers, and slow down the economy at a time when it may be headed into a recession.
Trump told Welker that the U.S. would be \u201cOK\u201d in the event of<\/a> <\/strong><\/a>a short-term recession<\/a> on the way to what he predicts, long term, will be a rollicking economy when his policies take full effect.
\u201cLook, yeah. Everything\u2019s OK,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cI said, this is a transition period. I think we\u2019re going to do fantastically.\u201d
Welker pressed him on whether he is worried the economy could keep shrinking.
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cAnything can happen. But I think we\u2019re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country.\u201d
At the same time, Trump laid more groundwork for the idea that Americans are willing to suffer a certain amount of short-term austerity in service of his economic agenda.
He acknowledged that prices on some goods \u201cmight\u201d go up but argued that falling energy prices will matter more to consumers.
\u201cGasoline is thousands of times more important than a stroller\u201d or something else, he said, adding: \u201cYou don\u2019t need to have, as I said, 35 dolls.\u201d
Instead, he said a child should have \u201ctwo, three, four, and save a lot of money,\u201d asserting that, with regard to products made costlier by his tariffs, \u201cWe don\u2019t need to feed the beast.\u201d
Trump said he was not trying to prepare Americans to see empty shelves in stores.
\u201cI\u2019m not saying that. I\u2019m just saying they don\u2019t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don\u2019t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five,\u201d he said.
The economy, meanwhile, is playing out against the backdrop of Trump\u2019s efforts to apply his \u201cAmerica first\u201d principles to areas of global tension. He has yet to land a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine \u2014 which he said would happen simply as a result of his election \u2014 but has signed a minerals pact with Ukraine that invests the U.S. in that nation\u2019s future.
In 2017, Trump walked away from President Barack Obama\u2019s nuclear pact with Iran, but he is now trying to negotiate a new agreement. He told Welker that his goal in discussions about a deal with Iran is \u201ctotal dismantlement\u201d of that nation\u2019s nuclear program. And yet, he said he is willing to listen to arguments for allowing Iran to pursue civilian nuclear energy while ending its nuclear weapons program.
\u201cI think that I would be open to hearing it, you know?\u201d Trump said. \u201cCivilian energy, it\u2019s called. But you know, civilian energy often leads to military wars. And we don\u2019t want to have them have a nuclear weapon. It\u2019s a very simple deal.\u201d
He also reiterated that he would not \u201crule out\u201d using military force in his pursuit of adding Greenland to the U.S. But he appeared to stand down a little with regard to Canada, which he said he would still like to annex as the \u201c51st state.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t see it with Canada,\u201d he said of the use of force to make that happen. But he also said: \u201cThey think we are going to protect them, and really we are. But the truth is, they don\u2019t carry their full share, and it\u2019s unfair to the United States and our taxpayers.\u201d
On the question of Russia and Ukraine, Trump admitted that peace between the countries, which he had once vowed to deliver quickly, may not be achievable, though he also said he thinks a deal may be \u201cfairly close.\u201d
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s not possible to do,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThere\u2019s tremendous hatred, just so you understand, Kristen. We\u2019re talking tremendous hatred between these two men and between, you know, some of the soldiers, frankly. Between the generals. They\u2019ve been fighting hard for three years. I think we have a very good chance of doing it.\u201d
Amid Trump\u2019s foreign policy agenda, his tariff plan and other unilateral economic moves, the president has <\/strong>a broader economic agenda that will require Congress to enact a budget \u201creconciliation\u201d measure, which is slated to <\/strong>extend his 2017 tax cuts and trim some domestic spending while increasing annual deficits and adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.
Under budget rules, that bill, which is still under construction on Capitol Hill, is not subject to a filibuster by minority Democrats in the Senate and can therefore be passed with only Republican votes. Trump still has to hammer out the details in a way that can win the support of the narrow GOP majorities in the House and Senate.
\u201cWe\u2019re talking about the great, big, beautiful bill that we\u2019re trying to get passed,\u201d Trump said, adding, \u201cI think the Republicans are going to vote for it. And it\u2019ll be the most consequential bill, I think, in the history of our country.\u201d
Trump said he believes lawmakers can reach the July 4 deadline that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has set and that he would veto the bill if it includes cuts to Medicaid.
\u201cI would if they were cutting it, but they\u2019re not cutting it,\u201d he said, suggesting that plans to reduce Medicaid spending will not affect beneficiaries \u2014 and therefore don\u2019t count as cuts. \u201cThey\u2019re looking at fraud, waste and abuse. And nobody minds that. … But we\u2019re not cutting Medicaid, we\u2019re not cutting Medicare, and we\u2019re not cutting Social Security.\u201d
The budget resolution passed by both chambers calls for $880 billion in cuts from programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a figure that most analysts say cannot be reached without reducing spending on Medicaid.
Trump said he will not take the popular video application TikTok away from Americans, even with another deadline coming up for ByteDance, the company\u2019s Chinese owner, to sell it.
Despite a law forcing the shutdown<\/a> of the app in the U.S. if its Chinese-based owner does not sell to a U.S.-based company, Trump has issued executive orders delaying the ban. Trump approved a second 75-day extension<\/a> for a deal earlier this month and said he would consider another one if necessary.
\u201cI\u2019d like to see it done,\u201d he said of a deal for TikTok\u2019s sale, later adding, \u201cPerhaps I shouldn\u2019t say this, but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok. TikTok is \u2014 it\u2019s very interesting, but it\u2019ll be protected. It\u2019ll be very strongly protected. But if it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension. Might not need it.\u201d
Trump predicted that his policies will prove popular enough to contravene the trend of the president\u2019s party losing at least one chamber of Congress in the first midterm election of their tenure.
\u201cI don\u2019t know why it would be. I think we should do better,\u201d he said, noting that he is raising money for congressional Republican campaigns. \u201cBut if you look, it\u2019s pretty consistent that whoever wins the presidency ends up losing the House, losing the Senate. I think we\u2019re going to turn that around. I think we\u2019re going to turn it around easy. It should be the opposite. If we do a good job, let\u2019s say as president if I do a good job, it should be the opposite.\u201d
Jonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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