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
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Host0:00
So it's a better proxy for the core indices with respect to our so-called trade war. I want to get back to the June jobs report. Joining us now, Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors. Kevin, another pretty good report. In fact, on Wall Street they're calling it a Goldilocks report. Your assessment on it.
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Kevin Hassett0:23
Actually, I think it is a great report. If you look at the jobs creation, we have yet another month right around 215,000, which is average for the year. If you look at the wage picture, the thing that really jumped out at me is the average weekly earnings went up 3%, so they went up at a healthy pace. Employers are asking their workers to work longer hours, so that was a little bit disappointing. On the unemployment rate side, it did go to 4%, but that was because of labor force participation, which is like the best sign in this jobs report. Because what we want to do is reconnect people who were discouraged by the bad economy that President Trump inherited, and we want to bring them back into society, get them jobs, back to work. It is clear that that's happening, with people stampeding back into the labor market.
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Host1:15
Kevin, I do agree with that. You know, I think we've gotten to a place where there are a lot of people who have given up on this economy, and they could actually participate in it. So to me, this is the ultimate sign of optimism, 601,000 coming back to the job market. But we have a problem because you have 6.7 million job openings and in the labor pool, and still, you know, these wages should be a lot higher. Folks point to the skills problems. I know there's been talk in this White House about more vocational education, things like that. Is there anything that this White House can do to help with this chronic problem at this point?
K
Kevin Hassett1:58
It is really all of the above. But the main point right now that we're seeing in the data is that what normally happens in the cycle is that you get close to full employment, I'm not exactly sure what number that is, 4.6 or below it, and the workers become more productive. Right, so you give your worker a better machine, and then you don't need to hire another guy because the guy you have is more productive. So you want to see at the end of a cycle a capital spending boom that increases wages. And at the time in history where income equality has dropped the most, it is that point where we passed the tax cut bill. Don't forget, we had the six-month anniversary last week. So the tax cut is causing a capital spending boom, very clearly in the data, and that should have the normal cyclical effect. Because you're right, there are more job openings right now than unemployed workers.
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Host3:01
We have 118 things that tariffs went into effect last night. A pretty long list. Right, a lot of this stuff has machinery on it, a lot of this... American companies can skip that. But some folks are saying, 'We can't avoid these tariffs, and businesses are paying higher prices.' What do you say to the American public? Hey, obviously, if it is a trade war or a harsh trade dispute, there's a short-term period of pain for some folks.
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Kevin Hassett3:33
I don't know about short-term pain, but you know that the president promised the American people that he would fight for them. Moving in that direction, you know, he's going to, I think in the next few months you'll see a lot of improved deals that stop this game that we've been in for years and years. This is about non-tariff barriers that are different from ours, denying firms and workers access to markets. So there's anxiety, and will it work out to have a happy end? But as an economist, what I have to do is look at the data. So one of the things I'm watching closely in jobs is what's going on in downstream metal using industries. So if you thought those would be disruptive, let me finish the point: those industries saw employment go up in the last month. So right now, in the data, I'm not seeing signs that tariffs are causing disruption. Though, when you want to cherry-pick, it will be necessary and for some folks it will be pain, but we hope it is short-lived.
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Host4:52
My question is, though, we saw other presidents try something similar to this. Maybe George Bush gave up on it. Is this administration now committed to this?
K
Kevin Hassett5:08
President Trump wrote 'The Art of the Deal,' he's committed to making better deals. And right now, he's called the bluff of other countries that have basically been abusing firms and workers for a long time. But he wants a study of what would happen with the world economy and the U.S. economy from trade deals that were realized, and, of course, better deals. You should understand it is extremely worthwhile.
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Host5:38
I'm with you. Listen, first of all, congratulations. You guys have done a remarkable job for this economy. A great jobs report. We want to see wages get better. I want to make sure that you guys are committed to winning.
