Trump Flip Flops on Economy’s Strength

The Primary: The Washington Post reports senior White House officials are debating whether they should implement a payroll tax cut.

Who? What? Why?: While Trump insists the economy is doing well, the push for tax cuts indicates the Trump administration is at least aware that the economy is slowing down. However, it remains unclear whether they link the slowing to Trump’s China tariffs, as is believed by many to be the cause.

The Baseline: Reversing his initial inquiries into a payroll tax cut and acknowledgement of potential fault for the economic downturn, Trump announced a day later that he will not be seeking the cuts because according to him, “We don’t need it. We have a strong economy.”

From the Left: Paul Krugman of the New York Times thinks the only thing Trump knows for certain is that it’s other people’s fault that the economy isn’t doing well. After all, he argues, since Trump doesn’t have a plan B, admitting he was wrong here might mean admitting failure overall.

From the Right: The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board argue the solution to the economic downturn is fairly simple and it's not more tax cuts. They believe the best move for Trump right now is to stop his trade war with China instead of continuing to double down on what has ultimately amounted to a lot of unnecessary suffering for average Americans.