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From the Politics Desk

An evening newsletter featuring the NBC News Politics team’s most recent coverage and insights from the White House, Capitol Hill, and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we have the first comments from Kristen Welker’s exclusive interview with President Donald Trump. Plus, we’re looking at another U.S. ally — after Canada — that has seen its upcoming election roiled by Trump as he reshapes not just American politics but global politics as well.


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— Scott Bland

Trump minimizes concerns over an impending recession, stating that the U.S. would ultimately fare well in the future.

By Alexandra Marquez

President Donald Trump on Friday downplayed concerns about potential economic trouble, saying everything would be “OK” in the long term, even if the U.S economy experienced a recession in the short term.

Asked twice by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker whether it would be OK in the long term if there was a recession in the short term, the president said, “Look, yeah, it’s — everything’s OK. What we are — I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically.”

In response to Welker’s question regarding his concerns about an economic downturn, Trump stated, “No.” When pressed on whether he believed a recession might occur, Trump answered, ” Anything can happen, but I believe we will have the best economy this nation has ever seen.”

The comments arise as Wall Street analysts

are increasingly worried

that the country could face a recession due to Trump’s changing tariff policy.

“Well, you know, you say, ‘Some people on Wall Street say’ — well, I tell you something else. Some people on Wall Street say that we’re going to have the greatest economy in history. Why don’t you talk about them?” Trump said during the interview at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“There are many people on Wall Street say this is going to be the greatest windfall ever happen,” the president added.

As per the preliminary data released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, the state of the U.S. economy is as follows:

shrunk by 0.3%

In early 2025, a decrease was primarily due to declining exports coupled with an increase in imports before the anticipated implementation of tariffs by President Trump.

On Wednesday, while meeting with members of his Cabinet, Trump deflected blame for the first-quarter gross domestic product numbers, saying that it was a result of the economy former President Joe Biden left behind.

You likely came across some figures today,” Trump stated, “and let me begin by saying, those belong to Biden.


Read more →


After Canadian election, Trump could drag down conservatives in Australia too

By Mahalia Dobson

Days after a

Canadian election

that hinged on who would

best stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump

, he is at the

center of an election

in another liberal democracy.

Trust in the United States is plummeting in

Australia

, which votes Saturday amid

global financial turmoil

triggered by tariffs imposed by Trump, this situation has

imposed on trading partners

across the globe, including Australia—a key U.S. ally and crucial security collaborator in counteracting

China

.

Similar to Canada, Australia’s main center-right political party, the Liberal Party, was expected to gain power ahead of Biden taking office, driven largely by voter frustration with high living costs and skyrocketing property values. However, they have since seen declining popularity as more citizens express concerns about how their administration would manage under a Trump presidency.

A

poll released last month

According to the findings from the Lowy Institute, a research organization, merely 36% of Australians reported having some degree of trust in the United States—the lowest figure recorded over the past twenty years of the yearly survey.

Although 81% of Australians disagree with Trump’s tariffs, an overwhelming majority (80%) still believe that the U.S. alliance is crucial for Australia’s security.

These figures highlight the economic and security dilemma Australia encounters: managing its defense relationships with the U.S. alongside its commercial engagements with China.


Read further about the elections in Australia this Saturday →

That concludes all political news from our desk for today. This newsletter was put together by Scott Bland and Bridget Bowman.

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This article was originally published on

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