WASHINGTON — A White House economic analysis of President Trump’s trade agenda has concluded that Trump’s tariffs will hurt economic growth in the United States, according to several people familiar with the research.
The findings from the White House Council of Economic Advisers have been circulated only internally and not publicly released, as is often the case with the council’s work, making the exact economic projections unknown. But the determination comes as top White House officials continue to insist publicly that Trump’s trade approach will be “massively good for the US economy.’’
The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, an economist who came to the administration from the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, dodged questions at a briefing on Tuesday about whether tariffs would hurt an economy that has accelerated during Trump’s tenure.
The administration has hit Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the European Union with steel and aluminum tariffs and threatened tariffs on a range of Chinese goods. In return, many of those countries have either imposed or threatened reciprocal tariffs on everything from steel to pork to orange juice, a move that economists say will depress economic growth.
Republican lawmakers and many economists have been warning that the administration’s trade approach will undercut economic growth and essentially neuter any boost from the $1.5 trillion tax cut that Trump signed last year.
On Wednesday, Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, criticized the Trump administration for throwing “a huge wet blanket of uncertainty on an economy that otherwise they were responsible for making red hot.’’
New York Times
Tweet indicates Trump support for unfounded claim
President Trump weighed in Thursday on a pending criminal case involving a former technology staffer for congressional lawmakers — another instance in which he publicly lobbied for a specific legal outcome and appeared to promote unfounded allegations.
The case surrounding Imran Awan and his wife has been the subject of interest among conservatives and conspiracy theorists for more than a year. They were charged last year with conspiring to commit bank fraud and making false statements on a loan application and unlawful monetary transactions.
But conservatives have suggested the couple were engaged in something much worse because Awan was an IT specialist for House lawmakers. An internal review found he and colleagues seemed to be bending rules on computer network access so they could share job duties. Conservatives called it a scandal with national security implications and questioned whether a server with sensitive information had gone missing; Democrats, including Awan’s employer, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, called that a bias-fueled conspiracy theory.
According to a recent court filing, the couple are nearing the end of plea negotiations with prosecutors.
Trump, who has tweeted about the case before, wrote Thursday: ‘‘Our Justice Department must not let Awan & Debbie Wasserman Schultz off the hook. The Democrat I.T. scandal is a key to much of the corruption we see today. They want to make a ‘plea deal’ to hide what is on their Server. Where is Server? Really bad!’’
Awan’s lawyer called Trump’s statement ‘‘incredibly irresponsible’’ and a violation of Awan’s due process rights.
In a statement, Wasserman Schultz responded: ‘‘I’m focused on doing my job. Donald Trump should focus on doing his.’’
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
Washington Post
Convicted ex-CIA officer seeks pardon via cable TV
Under President Trump, cable television is rapidly becoming the government’s new pardons office.
On Thursday, former CIA officer John Kiriakou became the latest person to take to the talk-show circuit, making a direct appeal to the president to wipe clean his conviction for leaking the identity of a fellow CIA officer.
‘‘I would be forever indebted to him for a pardon,’’ Kiriakou said during an interview on ‘‘Fox & Friends’’ on Fox News, a program that Trump often watches as part of his morning routine.
Kiriakou was charged in 2012 with leaking classified information about the CIA waterboarding of an Al Qaeda suspect at a secret site in Thailand. He argued Thursday that he was unfairly targeted by former CIA director John Brennan, who has since become a vocal critic of Trump’s actions related to the Russian investigation and other matters.
‘‘He sees an injustice, and he corrects it,’’ Kiriakou said of Trump.
Traditionally, people seeking pardons apply through the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, which reviews thousands of cases and advances some to the White House for the president’s consideration.
But in recent weeks, Trump has short-circuited that process, granting clemency in cases that have come to his attention from allies and celebrities.
The most recent was that of Alice Marie Johnson, a woman serving a life term for nonviolent drug offenses. Trump commuted her sentence on Wednesday after an appeal from reality television star and socialite Kim Kardashian West.
The new dynamic has created an incentive for pardon-seekers and their allies to appeal directly to the president over the tube.
Washington Post
