Trump says US in transition period, downplays impact of short-term recession

Washington: President Donald Trump said on Friday the US was in a "transition period" and was going to do "fantastically" while downplaying the impact any short-term recession may have.

When asked during an interview with NBC News whether it would be OK to have a recession in the short term, Trump said: "Look, yeah, it's — everything's OK. What we are — I said, this is a transition period. I think we're going to do fantastically."

Trump's comment on the US economy being in a transition period echoed comments he made earlier on Friday in a social media post, in which he also cited strong employment and reiterated his call for the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

"We’re only in a transition stage, just getting started!" he said in a Truth Social post. The post followed the release of US data that showed job growth slowed marginally for April.

Trump, who just passed his 100th day in office, has faced growing public discontent over his handling of the economy, with many economists predicting a wide range of tariffs imposed in recent months will drive up inflation and slow growth.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Sunday showed 42 per cent of respondents approve of Trump's performance in office, a drop of five percentage points from just after his January 20 inauguration.

The US Commerce Department on Wednesday released advance gross domestic product data that pointed to the first quarterly decline in three years, with businesses rushing to import a flood of goods ahead of Trump's tariffs. However, some economists cite robust consumer spending and private investment as a sign growth could soon rebound.