About Kevin Hassett
Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, has been a frequent public spokesperson for the Trump administration’s economic policies. In press briefings and media appearances, he has characterized the U.S. economy as experiencing a "supply-side boom" driven by administration policies such as deregulation, tax cuts, and tariffs. He cited the May 2026 jobs report of 172,000 added jobs as evidence of this, stating that the number beat the highest forecast in a Bloomberg surveyched. Hassett has argued that the Federal Reserve should not raise interest rates in response to the jobs data, describing the growth as a "supply-side jobs number" that allows for growth without runaway inflationichel.
Hassett has also addressed high gas prices and inflation, which he described as a "temporary energy shock" caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. He stated that the administration expects prices to fall once the strait reopens, predicting that oil will flow "like you've never seen before" due to excess capacity from countries like the UAE. When questioned about low consumer sentiment, Hassett argued that the widely cited University of Michigan survey is "extremely partisan" and suggested it should be renamed "political sentiment," pointing to a separate Conference Board survey that he said showed higher confidence. He has also promoted the use of artificial intelligence by small businesses, claiming that firms using AI saw their sales double.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Kevin Hassett's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
H
Host0:00
We've got the first read on economic growth for the fourth quarter of last year: up 2.6% annual growth, and for the whole year we grew 2.9%. Pretty strong, I'd say. Let's bring in Kevin Hassett, he's the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Welcome back to the program, always good to see you, Mr. Chairman.
K
Kevin Hassett0:18
Thanks. Look, I characterized last year as strong? 2.9% growth is good stuff. But what about when you move forward to the first quarter of this year? They're estimating it's only going to be 1.8, 1.9%. That's not great, right?
H
Host0:33
Well, first of all, it actually wasn't 2.9 last year, it's 3.1, but we don't have to get down into the weeds. It was a 3.1% year. And the interesting thing about the news coverage is there are two different ways to measure the year: one is year over year, and what is quarter four over quarter four? Everybody's picking the lower number because they don't want to give the president credit for 3.1. But you get the numbers right, so from now on talk about it as 3.1 because that's right.
K
Kevin Hassett0:59
Yeah, okay. So going into Q1, there's this thing that basically the seasonal adjustment process has been messed up for about a decade, and every Q1 is about 1% below what you expect to have for the year. We are still very, very confident that we're going to have a 3% year for 2019. So what that means is you should expect Q1 to be about 2. So if you're thinking, 'Are we going to maintain the 3% growth we had last year? What is the GDP now telling us about that?' you should be looking for that to be around 2, which is about where it is, so that's consistent with looking for another 3% year.
H
Host1:35
3% growth for the full year? We've got to pick up a lot of steam in the spring and summer. Where would that steam come from?
K
Kevin Hassett1:40
Well, it's just like we did last year. The reason is we've still got the tax cuts, we're still deregulating like crazy, we've got lots of positive momentum on the trade deals as you've seen. A lot of the uncertainty about trade, for example last year, is going to be resolved this year. We got 3% growth last year even with that uncertainty, so imagine how good it'll be once it's resolved.
H
Host2:03
Let me pick up on that: you just said 'lots of froth'? Did you use the word 'progress' on the trade talks? Define that. Tell me what progress you've got here.
K
Kevin Hassett2:13
Right, well, I think Larry Kudlow has spoken a lot about that today too. But the fact is, if they're going to make a Mount Rushmore of trade representatives, then the biggest head there would be Bob Lighthizer. It's amazing how he and the Chinese in the negotiations, and also Secretary Mnuchin, have threaded the needle and come up with sketches of an agreement on intellectual property theft and enforcement. Ambassador Lighthizer mentioned the enforcement yesterday; it basically makes it so that you can see ahead now to a deal that really makes sense for both parties. Of course, I don't want to get ahead of the final part of the negotiation, which is likely to happen at Mar-a-Lago with the president and President Xi. But if you look at the paperwork, the line-by-line items that people have agreed to and sketched out, it's just about as favorable as you could hope for. And the president did say he would walk away from a deal, even a China trade deal, if it's not a good deal, so that's a very firm, strong stand.
H
Host3:08
But I've not seen the market take it that way; at the moment we're still down.
K
Kevin Hassett3:15
I'm not sure I agree with that, Stuart. If you look at what the markets have done over the last couple of months, it's really, really headed north. I think a lot of that has to do both with the continued momentum of the economy, the faith in our economic policies, but also the positive news about both the USMCA and the China deal.
H
Host3:33
Okay, we'll leave it there. But you are on videotape saying that 2019 we will grow another 3%.
K
Kevin Hassett3:39
Hey, play the tape from me last year, okay, and then compare it to what happened.
H
Host3:46
Mr. Hassett, you're all right. We'll see you again soon. Thank you.
