joining us now, chris hodge, natixis chief economist of the u.s. er member of the treasury department and the federal reserve bank of new york. good morning, chris. thank you so much for joining us. >> great to be. >> with you, frank. >> so, chris, i mean, let's start off with the number one question on everybody's mind. do you think that we're headed towards a recession or just a major slowdown, or is this just near-term volatility due to tariff concerns and the administration's economic policy kind of winding its way through? >> yeah, i think markets are right to be fearful, but they should. >> be comforted. >> by the fact that structurally, the economic the. >> economy is still in pretty good shape, both consumer. >> balance sheets. >> and business balance sheets. >> are still. >> pretty solid. >> you know, credit spreads are still pretty tight. banks continue to lend. >> but i. >> think it's important. >> to note. >> that the differences between. >> now and. >> from trump. >> trump's first term. >> are pretty significant. >> and trump's. >> firs

surprising people like dan hodges, even andrew neil turning around and saying that we should question the state visit. i mean, how utterly ridiculous. i'm in agreement with you, chrishese idiots who are calling for this state visit to be cancelled, they're being childish. grow up. >> well, can we get a high chair forjd vance to >> well, can we get a high chair for jd vance to sit the toddler in the corner so he he stays away from any real debate, you know, because he can't be trusted. didn't he? well, i don't know. >> well, listen, listen, stay with us, because we are now going to outside the european summit leaders where they are right now. let's speak to our gb news political editor, christopher hope. christopher, can you tell us more? what can you tell us? >> well, the meeting is breaking up >> well, the meeting is breaking up very shortly. behind me, all the cars are gathering. you're seeing them moving off behind me. we will see some leaders emerge from the building, and we'll see a press conference with our prime minister at 5:00. we're not expecting a huge amount of news in the press conference. the individual leaders will go away and talk to their respectiv