Trump says U.S. economy is in transition, downplays short-term recession

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the U.S. economy is in a "transition" and will do "very well," while downplaying the impact of any short-term recession.

Asked in an interview with NBC News whether the U.S. will face a recession in the short term, Trump said: "Listen, yes, everything is fine. I said it's a transition period. I think we're going to do very well."

Trump's comments about the U.S. economy being in a transition period echoed his comments on social media earlier on Friday, in which he mentioned strong employment and reiterated his call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

"We're just in a transition period, and we're just getting started!" Trump said in a Truth Social post. Earlier, U.S. data showed that job growth slowed slightly in April.

Trump just passed his 100th day in office, and the public is increasingly dissatisfied with his handling of the economy, and many economists predict that the wide-ranging tariffs imposed in recent months will push up inflation and slow economic growth.

An Ipsos poll released last Sunday showed that 42% of respondents approved of Trump's performance in office, down 5 percentage points from after his inauguration on January 20.

Preliminary data released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday showed that U.S. GDP shrank for the first time in three years in the first quarter, as companies rushed to import large quantities of goods before Trump imposed tariffs.