Exclusive: Lutnick moves goalposts on Trump's ownership of economy: "end of this year"
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President Trump will own the economy's performance by the end of 2025, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tells Mike Allen on the "The Axios Show"— a much later window than he and other administration officials have previously claimed.
Why it matters: Economic data has been somewhat weaker in recent months, and now Lutnick is pushing out the window for when Trump fully owns the economy's performance.
"The Axios Show" is our new series featuring our top reporters and experts interviewing newsmakers shaping politics, media, business, tech and culture.
What they're saying: "The economy that Donald Trump owns starts at the end of this year," Lutnick said.
The intrigue: Lutnick rejects — forcefully — the suggestion that Trump has to take responsibility for everything that started Jan. 20.
- "You can't build factories and get permits and begin in an hour. You just can't. And the scale by which these companies are committed to building factories in America is unprecedented," Lutnick said.
- "So the jobs are coming, the factories are coming, we know the cavalry is coming. You know it can hear the thunder of the hooves coming."
Reality check: At the end of July Lutnick posted to X that "the Trump Economy has officially arrived," citing a strong GDP report.
- Since then, a combination of weak jobs data and hot inflation reports has painted a very different picture of an economy struggling to grow.
- Just Thursday, the Consumer Price Index showed inflation rising for a fourth consecutive month, while initial jobless claims were the highest in years.
Yes, but: Lutnick told CNBC Thursday that he expects record construction employment by the first quarter of next year, with GDP growth topping 4%.
What to watch: After the economy shrank in the first quarter (a Biden-Trump hybrid period), it grew in the second quarter; that growth is expected to slow a bit this quarter.
- If growth keeps slowing, or turns negative, Lutnick could be left having to explain what went wrong.
