robert: whiplash on the economy as president trump clashes with his critics. on robert costa. welcome to "washington week." president trump: payroll tax is something we think about, a lot of people wouldikeo see that -- i'm not looking at a tax cut now, we don't need it. we have a strong economy. robert: president trump pinballs on policy an lashes out at the chair. and china. president trump: we could be greatly helped with the fed would do its job and do a substantial rate cut. whetr it's good or bad, short term, is irrelevant. we have to solve the problem with china.: robert and faces a crossroads on guns as he talks withthe n.r. next.

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through the yuen fndation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our community. the corporation for public broadcsting. and by contributions to your pbo station fm viewers like you. thanyou. >> once again from washington, moderator robert costa. robert: on w friday, the tra raged. china announced it would soon levy new tariffs on $ 5 blion in u.s. goods. president trump demanded that american compalyes immedia start looking for an alternative to china. s thatndoff sent the duh jens industrialverage tumbling 600 points, nearly 2.4%. after the markets closed, the president, as usual, punched hiking up his tariffs on china. it capped off a turbulent week offe presidentia and indecision on the economy and other issues right before the president heads to france f the g-7 meeting. joining me tonight for our discussion, anita kumar, white

house correspondent and associate editor f politico. martha raddatz, abc news chief global affairsorspondent and co-anchor of "this week." dan balz, chief correspondent for "the washington post." and jim taxer lee, tax and economics reporter forrt "the n york times." dan, the president veering from advisor t advisor, idea to idea, whatlloes it reveal about president trump? day i think what we've see-- dan: i think what we'veeen this week, and weeks before but there's something particular about this week, the way he went back and forth, you wrused the word pinballing in the open, i seink that's a good description. there's a s thate doesn't know his own mind, doesn't know what messa he wans put out and doesn't know other than fighting with china what kind of spill he wants. on the one hand, one day it'll say we're lookingt tax cuts, the next day he'll say we are not. one day he'll say the economy is

asrood as it can be, the next day he's attacking the federal reserve chairman saying the economy should be better and he's holing it back. i think this was a week in which he was the mainr dri of lack of confidence and instability in the economy. and that is a worrisome thing as the rest of the world and corpveate execu try to figure out what they want to do about the future. robert: marth on that point, the rest of the world, as the president flies to france an prepares for the g-7 wt do global leaders see in the president this week in eemartha: i think exactly what n described, you described it too, the trade war. he's coming into this meeting, i don't think he ever lyre wanted to go t the meeting. it's his third meeting. i don't think he wasth too iastic about it. now he can't go in there and brag about the u.s. economy if they can bring up all these other thins, the stock market an back andorth and back and forth. but i think world leaders are

worried. i mean this does not -- this isn't jt about the.s. economy. this is about the global economy and he'smabto go in the middle of it. robert: is there going to be a collective response to the slowdown is this america alone? martha: i think there has to be some sort of global response in some way. whether it'll do any od, i talked to peter navarro last sunday and he ticked of all the thgs that are going to happen, some sort of global response and this will happen but there were a lot of ifs in that. so far they're not comin through on those. robert: global leaders rattled war. trade so are the u.s. markets. investors. should they buckle up? jim: absolutely. policy uncertain is something that holds back investments. when you talk tobo c.e.o.'s where to make the dollar invested, where to build the next plant, they want to know what the rules of the road are going to be, that's why we have

an international trading system. the president has tossed a lot of chaos into that. that global trade uncertainty is like six times larger than it normallys. that the president has gone out and basically every day we eets made it possible that the tariff rates will chang on china. if you're a retail for the america trying to figure out where to n source thet shoe, you need to know ifhere's going to be tariffs next week or if there's goingo be tariffs next month and what rate they aty be and inne has any confidencen that. the president himself seems to not actually know what he wants other than to win. and so while we wait to see what victory may look like, the economy reay is slowing down and that is theack drp of all of the pinballing as you all put it that we've seen this week. robert: anita, martha brought up the white house trade jay-z vicor. when you're at the white house talking oues about what

happened this week who do they say is icharge? anita: we hear peter is imcting the president, influencing the president. other aides are not on board with this. he had a meeting today, the treasury secretary called into this. he met with h trade advisor, robert lighthizer but everyone navarro.g it's about peter really it's abnathe president he doesn't really know what he wants to do. yt i think have to take a step back and look at where he's coming from the econom was the thing he always had in his pock for his re-election. he veered off to 20 other topics but it was always there as the thing that was going to get him throug election and he's just really starting to feel like it's not going to happen. obert: larry kudlow, steve mnuchin, whether it's navarro or president trump, is anyone countering them in terms of argument inside? anita: it feels toe like t first year or so there were more people in the white house

pushing back at the president and now it's less so. i remember, you're talking about tariff, he threatened tariffs from mexico anevery was say there's no one in the white house who -- no one wanted it no one wanted to tell m. martha: but he's clearly concerned. can say we're not concerned, we're not concerned. all you had to do is watch this wild week an know how concerned donald trump is about it. he may not be gettingny pushback on the economy itself butic polly, they know this could be a big problem. robert: what is he concerned about? just the economy or is it his own re-elec in 2020? martha: i thi both. very, very closely. tog surely he's worried about the economy as well, but politically it coud be pretty disastrous if the economy tanks. you see him blaminger o and donald trump does that a lot. it's not my fault, it's the media's fault. for wanting a recession, he

claims. it's someone else's fault that thisul happene it's h jerome powell's fight. he's in that blamehi gamech is an indicator that he's worried. robert: what does the president want here, just to go on whatnge were tal about with martha? does he want e nomic war,l politiar? is that his message for 2020? or is he seeking a deal with china? does he want to pass the usmc. jim: he wants to pass the usmc, the tra agreement he wants to be re-elected. as anina said, the economy has been his strongestalling car lowest unemployment rate in half a century. stock mark at various times doing very, very well. othef indicators o continued growth. there are science the horizon of slowing and perha worse we don't know. all of that puts at risk his political future. the other thi we know about him is he wanted to have a fight with china. he has talked about that,

predating his arrival on the political stage, tha he felt that we were being taken advantage of in trade agreements and hwants to go after china. e problem is, he's gone after an adversary that's proved ash tond as wiley as he is and there seems to be no way right now that there's simpleo solutionis. and that's the real risk. >>e wants the federal reserve to give him a rate cut. dan: he does believe the feds' policies are holding back greth. we are not g close to as fast as he promised we would after the tax cuts. he saidt least 3%, maybe 4%, might be 5%. we'll be lucky to hit 2.5%. could be worse. i think the president has a diffent view of the global economy than any of his predecessors since world war ii. he believes when other countries do well, america does poorly he

economic war at them almost in that'shat he wants with china. he wants to bring american companies back from china. which is a totally different way of looking at the world than business executives have seen the last 20 years where they see china as a place we want to sell into, a place where we can source cheaper products. robert: what's driving china? martha: i think one thing you see here, you can look at president trump and say, boy, maybe he was right about this in the benning. maybe we are being taken advantage of. but srting thisde tar with china, china is just coming right back at him. and you know,lo todaying at that, ok, they're going to do that, i'll take it up to 15% then. you have to say where does this end? i don't think china has a plan for this where this ends. it doesn't look like we have a plan exactly for where this ends. dan: t others a -- >> the others aspect i that the

president has done this without any support from f allies. that's a major criticism, certainly from the democrats but from others, including allies. that he's done things to push allies away at a time when a more united front might have more impact on china. we don't know that because we are not seeing that right now. but that's an element oft, that it's america alone and so far it's not worked. rohert: where are republicans? where is the business community, are they pressuring thehi house? anita: the business community, farmers, everybody they represent, said today ty don't like this. they were frustrated with china but he shouldn't go this rout. when i go to trump rallies an t talk tmp supporters, i know we've been saying this for a couple years but the number one thing they say is not about immigration, not abo economy. it's that he's out there fighting for them and they lov it. they eat it up. they're going to eat it up and love this until perhaps the

economy does go down. so they say it's ok he didn't get a dealith china. other presidents would have stopped. he's going at i robert: what's the reality with the economy? there's a trade war. the marks are up, they're down. what's the reality of the economy? jim: the reality is we're still growing. weoing better than most of the rest of the developed world. but we're slowing dow growth was slower in the last quarter than it had been the quarter before. it's not projected to be great in the next quarter. as the world slows down,e are atisk of catching sort of that almost recessionnary fever, if you will. i think that's the big worry is that these trade moves could be disastrous to bus investment which is already kind of plummet eting. if we see more of it, you could see an actual pullback in the american consumer which has been really carryinthe recoverynd if they stop spending money, then growth really could turn south. robert: does this change the democratic race f president?

martha: i don't know whether it changes the democratic race for president. d certainly th't want to talk about the economy every single second of the democratic race, that's not what that's about. they don't want to be -- they dent want to be seen as look, we're hoping r a recession so donald trump will lose. but i do think this is an issue unlike many others, unlike immigration. unlike north korea. ollike foreigny, where people may not feel it. if the economy softensnd things turn bad, they will feel it. they may, if they don'tive in a border state they may not really pay attention to immigration and just say wel the president is fighting f us this is the kind of thing that could really change things. robert: for vice president bin, is p this part of hy democrats conti e to rally around h? senator warren is catching but but i it because democratic voters aredooking for seaso hands among thisnstabble? p

dan: he'yed and played hard this week the electability card even so far as in an advertisement touting his olstanding in the as being better than any other democrat to go against president trump. but thether element that he is etly and thli implicitly is, i can go in on day one, i know wha to do. i've got lots of experience. i've seen it up close. i've dlt with thesessues over 40 years, whether in the i can bring stability.ent. i think that's why there are number of people they're not wildlenthusiastic about him, seem to have, for now, and i that, for now, gravitated toward him. robert: let's turn to another hot button topic, gun control. the president has been all over theaphis week on where he stands in the wake of mass shootings in texas and ohio.um

president i have an appetite for background checks. we'll be doing background checks. have background checks. but there areoopholes in the being checks. that's what i spoke to the n.r.a. about yesterday. at the same time, i don't want to take away amendment rights. robert: anita wrote in polico president trump has baffled lawmakers and ad vo kacy groups for weeks with his comments. democrats on the campaign trail have tackled the issue. >> when the president, even this president, says he's goi to do something abo backgroundkg checks, and then word comes out today that he has consulted with his masters at the eyr.a. and old him sorry, you can't do that, it raises the very simple question, who is in chncge? robert: again, we'resking you that question a lot tonight who is in charge? anita: let me tell you what i'm hearing from the white house. it seems as if they're going back and forth or that he'sac going and forth. let me tell you, the president, he isi going fack andth but the president wants to put out a plan.

and he's greting presrom both sides, right. obviously he is so worried about ndlosing supporters his base oud having gun vol that would be very, you know, very stron and so he's looking at that and he's thinking what can i do? i want to be the one that after these two mass shootings that comes up with something and finally gets something den.oo he'sng at minor things. his language was confusing but what he is going to beoing is putting out a plan when congress comes back and it will inclu b changes kground checks. not perhaps universal background checks. he's not going to say more people shohed get checked they're making purchase but he'll say that the background check system is flawed which it is, and that more federal agencies and states should be putting records in there. so it's a way for him to say, hey, i'm doing background checks but not doing a big background check. robert: wayne la pier son the phone whih president trump month saying we don't support background checks and they're one of the bigge supporters of e g.o.p. martha: that's so interesting

what the white hou is thinking and how they do that and can he frame that in a way that doesn't offend the n.r.a., i mean, we've all heard him talk about it's the mentally ill, what do we do abouthat? do we have an extra background check with that? and how they figure out how to do that. it's a prette. fine l i can see a way they probably could please the n.r.a. and some of the constituents. robert: is the n.r.a., jim, in a weakened position, ty've begunng through spen scandals, wayne laier has cleaned house at the m: you would expect if there was a time that the n.r.a. would be weakened, this one it but it doesn't seem that way. they're able to get the president on the phone in a way that a lot of advocacy groups wish they can. i think they're defitely not what they were before these scandals hit but it would be wrong to count them as anything less than a force in washington right now. robert: what holds president

trump to thessue of gun control? is it fear of losing the suburban v er in 2020? dan: i think this issue so encapsulates the difficulas choice hen his re-election campaign. on the one hand he has to hold his base. that's stating the obvious. but he has to hold that base. and anything he might do to more, you know, encompassing position on g control, puts that at risk. on the other hand, given happened in 2018, the degree to which the suburban vote med against the republicans, particularly suburban women to do something, not to do enjoys overwhelming support ong democrats, independents and republican, says to those voters, you don't count. i'm not ltening to you. he's going to -- he's going to try to come up with something that threads that needle. that and frame it i

way. anita: he's getting pushed by so many republicans, not his trump republ but other people saying, you have this opportunity. take it. to get some of these, pick up some of these other volters and say, i accomplished sometng. so he' getting really pushed very hard. martha: but go to the rallies eand you hear peo at those rallies and you talk to those voters and those voices are i his head as well that we can't have any sort of gun control and that would be ale hugeion issue and that's whathey'll tell you it will be.to robert: noring everything back to the economy but these are voters who would -- >> these areots who you'd think would be extra sensitive looking weaker because they have big economic concerns. in our polling it's 70% of independents say they're worried about the national economy. you would be -- i wouldlohink ing for ways to court those voters in some other way if you're worried that that economic base is coming o from underneath them. robert: who would want this in ty? republican p susan collins up for re-election in maine, cory gardner up for

re-election in colorado? dan: you'd think any senatorho up for re-election would like this robert: what about senate majority lear mcconnell, up for re-election in kentucky. dan: he's indicated he's interested in doing something. but how far he'll go i don't know. robert: is ivanka trump a force in this white house?an a: she's calling members of congress and is working on the issue, spoke with her father tout hit. i hearing on capitol hill some of these republicans don't want her involved. her fatr calls her liberal. calls her a democrat. that's not someone they actually want to work with when they're up for re-election. it's not going to look good for them. while she's out there doing ethings, there are s people who wish she wasn't. robert: could this end up as red flag law, something that's watered down? martha: that might be the kind of thing i could end up being is that red flag law. sort of just from his rhetoric,

the past week, that sounds like it would bee mlikely something he would do. anita: you know this about the president, but sometimes when he's out there tlking abo tax cuts, universal background checks, all different things, he's waieng to see what peo think. he goes and watches television to see what people are saying out it. what are republicans thinking about it. he wants to put the ideas out there.rt robe: he's doing that with the econom as well. jim: payll tax cut, he was for it, then he wasn't, now we're not sure. he said that we -- he'd be open to other tax cuts, capital gains for inflation, then he was backing away from that. robert: in one or two words what's coming next on the economy? >> chaos. martha: oh, jim. jim: trying to be the positive guy. anita: add some words to make us feel better? robert: coming up next on the with the washington week extra,"

we'll speak more on these issues. i'm robert costa, have a great weekend. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org ♪ >> corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> babbel. a language program that teachs real life conversations in a new language such as spanish, french, german, italian andre babbel's0 to 15-minutes willsons are available as an app or online. more information on babbel.com. >> financial services firm raymond james. additional funding is provided koo and patricia yuen through committed ndation, to bridging cultural differences

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