Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said President Trump should run the global economy as markets plummet due to the onset of Wednesday’s tariff announcement for a range of nations.
“Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been talking about it for 35 years,” Lutnick said during a Thursday morning CNN appearance.
“You got to trust Donald Trump in the White House.”
His words came hours after the Nasdaq composite, Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index all opened with significant losses.
Despite investors fleeing and foreign countries seeking to impose retaliatory measures for Trump’s tariffs, Lutnick said Trump is the best person to change the trajectory of the American economy through new federal spending habits.
“Let him fix it. I understand. It’s broken. Let him fix it. Our 36 trillion dollar deficit, right, is going to ruin our children’s lives and our grandchildren’s lives,” Lutnick said. “Let Donald Trump fix the American economy.”
Democrats have slammed the Trump administration while urging constituents to brace for a significant financial impact due to degenerative international trade relations.
“In fact, Republicans are crashing the American economy in real time and driving us to a recession. This is not liberation day, it’s recession day,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday, taking swipes at Trump.
“That’s what the Trump tariffs are going to do: Crash the economy.”
In lieu of the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told business owners and Wall Street brokers to trust in Trump.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say: Trust in President Trump. This is a president who is doubling down on this proven economic formula from his first term,” she said.
“It’s the golden rule for the golden age of America, and the United States of America is no longer going to be cheated by foreign nations around the world. And as the president declared yesterday, this is indeed a national emergency.”
