Kevin Hassett, George Stephanopoulos duke it out over Trump’s statement about stock market

President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, fired back at ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday as the two debated the president’s take on the stock market.

Following Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs against an estimated 60 countries imposing import charges on the U.S., the stock market plummeted for two days, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average seeing its steepest decline since June 2020 on Friday. On ABC News’ “This Week,” Stephanopoulos pointed out that Trump had reposted a video on Truth Social claiming he purposely crashed the market, and asked Hassett if that was the president’s strategy.

“The bottom line is the president has been talking about tariffs for 40 years. This is like been absolutely the policy that he’s focused on in the campaign and throughout his political career. The cyclical cycle of the Fed, it comes and goes, that’s a different matter,” Hassett said.

“But this is President Trump’s desired policy. He’s been arguing for it ever since, I think he was on The View 30, 40 years ago,” Hassett added. “The baseline tariffs is exactly what he put into the convention. So this is not a surprise for anyone.”

However, Stephanopoulos began talking over the economic adviser, asking if the market crash was part of Trump’s strategy to force the Federal Reserve to “lower interest rates.”

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“We understand the Fed is an independent agency. We respect the independence of the Fed,” Hassett responded. “The president’s allowed to have an opinion, absolutely, the president’s allowed to have an opinion. But there’s not going to be any political coercion over the Fed, for sure.”

Stephanopoulos again repeated his question to Hassett, asking if the tariffs were a strategy by Trump to “tank the market” and get the Fed to lower interest rates. As the economic adviser denied the host’s claim, Stephanopoulos questioned whether it was Trump’s “opinion or not.”

“He’s not trying to take the market. He’s trying to deliver for American workers. What would you have him do? Again, real wages down 15 years in a row under the previous policy,” Hassett continued. “That’s why Americans voted for him. They brought him in to turn the economy around for the American worker. That’s what he’s focused on.”

Stephanopoulos, for the fourth time, asked if it was Trump’s strategy, saying he was “just trying to get some clarity,” to which Hassett responded, “I’m giving you clarity.”

“No,” Stephanopoulos said. “Is that the president’s strategy or not? He posted it. He said the strategy is to lower, for the markets to crash so the Fed lowers interest rates. Is that the president’s strategy?”

“It’s not a strategy for the markets to crash. It is not a strategy for the markets to crash,” Hassett pushed back. “It’s a strategy to create a gold image in America for the American worker. That’s his strategy.”

On Wednesday, the president revealed a 10% baseline tariff, with countries like China and Israel facing higher tariffs due to their tariffs against the U.S. Notably, China will face a 34% tariff, as it imposes a 67% tariff on U.S. imports, while Israel will receive a 17% tariff, as it imposes a 33% tariff on U.S. imports.

With the Dow dropping 1,679.39 points Thursday and another 2,200 points on Friday, some lawmakers and political pundits have voiced concerns about the move. However, in a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump urged Americans to “hang tough,” adding that the end result will be positive for voters.

“We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before. Already, more than FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS OF INVESTMENT, and rising fast! THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN,” Trump wrote. “HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

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