Trump Admin Secretly Tells Big Donors: Yeah, a Recession Might Happen

President Donald Trump and his administration are naturally worried that such a disastrous economic event would tank his re-election chances, so in public, the line has been that fears of a recession are overblown or even a liberal media conspiracy. In private, however, they’re singing a different tune.

Per Politico’s reporting this morning:

At a fundraising luncheon this week in Jackson, Wyo., headlined by both Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged the risks to the GOP elite behind closed doors. If the U.S. were to face a recession, it would be “moderate and short,” Mulvaney told roughly 50 donors, according to an attendee.

The only place the Trump administration is willing to tell even part of the truth is at a private event with donors. It still feels alarming to see their contempt laid out in such a plain way: openly lying about the recession through the propaganda network of Fox News and then cautioning the monied interests behind closed doors. The Trump administration seems supremely unconcerned with the fact that another global recession would devastate millions of Americans’ lives all over again, including many of Trump’s supporters, as long as the people with the money are protected. It’s worth noting that the indications so far are that the next recession will be anything but “moderate and short,” so the Trump admin is downplaying the risks to powerful as well.

When the bad year (or several) comes, the people in that room will be fine. The rest of us, not so much.