Year In Review: Trump's Economy
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR
4.5 • 24.9K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As we approach 2026, the NPR Politics Podcast is taking a look back at the year that was in different political areas. Today, we look at President Trump's handling of the economy, including his tariff policy.
This episode: political correspondent Sarah McCammon, White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, and chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley.
This podcast was produced by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. I'm Danielle Kurtzleben. I cover the White House. And NPR's chief economics correspondent, Scott Horsley, is here. Old friend of the show. Hey, Scott. Good to be with y'all. |
| 0:17.0 | Today on the show, we want to talk about the economy this year under President Trump. |
| 0:21.3 | Economic concerns were a huge part of why he was elected, and they continued to be on voters' minds today. |
| 0:27.8 | And if you ask President Trump, he's been doing a good job so far. |
| 0:31.6 | But I do want to talk about the economy, sir, here at home. |
| 0:34.4 | And I wonder what grade you would give your economy. A plus. A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus. |
| 0:40.8 | That was from a December interview with Politico's Dasha Burns. Danielle, let's just start there. |
| 0:47.0 | Why is the White House feeling so upbeat about the economy? I think the White House is so upbeat about |
| 0:51.5 | the economy because Donald Trump is the president. I mean, Trump is upbeat because he is convinced that his policies are great and that he is the best president, the best leader, all of the superlatives. |
| 1:03.8 | And so, for example, despite the fact that we know that tariffs have pushed prices higher, Trump and his White House really, really hate to admit that and do their darnest to keep |
| 1:16.9 | away from saying things like that. |
| 1:18.8 | And look, his administration is also very happy to point you to statistics that aren't |
| 1:23.3 | looking too bad. |
| 1:24.4 | And there are some of those, you know, like the price of gasoline has dropped off a little in recent weeks. Wages are keeping pace with inflation. Broadly speaking, the economy |
| 1:33.4 | isn't looking bad, or at least not as bad as people seem to be feeling. But we do see |
| 1:38.7 | in poll after poll that the cost of living is a big worry for Americans. Consumer confidence |
| 1:44.0 | has fallen. So that's why |
| 1:46.0 | we're having this conversation. That's where this disconnect is. Scott, you spend a lot of time |
| 1:50.1 | looking at economic indicators, which is why you're so fun at parties. You actually are. |
| 1:56.5 | That notwithstanding. But, you know, Danielle just talked about the impact of tariffs on prices. |
| 2:01.0 | I mean, talk to me about the other data you're seeing. Do the economic indicators support this |
| 2:05.7 | grade of a plus plus plus that President Trump referenced? |
... |
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