Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that “there are no guarantees” when it comes to a recession.
“Mr. Secretary, can you guarantee the American people here and now that there will be no recession on President Trump’s watch?” NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Bessent on “Meet the Press.”
Bessent responded that “you know that … there are no guarantees, like, who — who would’ve predicted COVID?”
“So, I — I can predict that we’re putting in robust policies that will be durable,” Bessent added later. “And could there be an adjustment? Because I tell you that this massive government spending that we’d had, that if that had kept going, we have to wean our country off of that.”
Bessent’s comments came after a rough week for the stock market. On Monday, the stock market began the week with intense losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 890 points that day, dipping 2.1 percent.
Conversations about a possible recession also rose in prominence this week, with one of Bessent’s predecessors as Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers, saying on Monday that the odds of a recession were “close to 50/50.” More here