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The pursuing is the transcript of an interrogation with Kevin Hassett, National Economic Council director, that aired connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" connected July 6, 2025.
WEIJA JIANG: We crook present to Kevin Hassett. He is the manager of the National Economic Council and 1 of President Trump's apical advisors. He's besides precise fashionable connected that driveway wherever I'm usually alongside astir a twelve reporters. So, Kevin, convey you truthful overmuch for your clip this morning. I privation to commencement with trade, due to the fact that there's a large deadline coming up connected Wednesday. As you know, that 90-day intermission connected reciprocal tariffs that the President announced backmost successful April is acceptable to end. So far, the US has announced a fewer deals; the UK, Vietnam, and you're inching person to a last statement with China. Do you expect to get immoderate much deals done with America's biggest trading partners by Wednesday?
KEVIN HASSETT: Yeah. First, I bash person to take- instrumentality a intermission and stock your thoughts and prayers with the radical of Texas. It's an incredible, heartbreaking story, and Kristi Noem and the President person instructed the national authorities to propulsion everything they've got astatine helping the survivors and helping cleanable up that place. So, anyway, I'm truly heartbroken contiguous to spot these stories, and I privation you to cognize that successful the White House, everybody is putting each effort they tin into helping the radical of Texas today. On trade, there's going to beryllium rather a spot of quality this week. And, I think, the header of the quality is that determination are going to beryllium deals that are finalized. There are a full fig that Jameson Greer has negotiated with overseas governments, and past they're going to beryllium letters that are sent to countries saying, here's however we deliberation it ought to go, due to the fact that the deals aren't precocious enough. And the header is going to beryllium that countries are agreeing astir the satellite to unfastened their markets up to our products, and to let america to enactment immoderate benignant of tariff connected their products erstwhile they travel into the US. At precisely what the numbers volition be, volition beryllium things that you'll find retired successful the quality this week,.
WEIJA JIANG: Kevin, you said determination are going to beryllium deals. For those truly important trading partners, if there's not a woody by Wednesday, is the President going to widen this pause?
KEVIN HASSETT: You know, the United States is ever consenting to speech to everybody astir everything that's going connected successful the world. And determination are deadlines, and determination are things that are close, and truthful possibly things volition propulsion backmost the dead- past the deadline, oregon possibly they want- successful the end, the President's going to marque that judgment.
WEIJA JIANG: And you besides mentioned those letters that volition commencement going retired tomorrow, according to President Trump. He said astir 10 to 12 countries volition person them. Do you- tin you archer america who's going to get 1 and what they say?
KEVIN HASSETT: Because- because, again, the portion of the missive that could beryllium happening close is that we're adjacent to a deal, we're not truly satisfied with the advancement that we're making astatine the deal, and truthful we're saying, okay, fine, we're going to nonstop a letter, but possibly you get a woody astatine the past infinitesimal too. Until we spot everything that plays out, I deliberation that we request to conscionable clasp our occurrence and ticker for the quality this week.
WEIJA JIANG: Is it just to accidental that those notices are going to spell to our smaller trading partners, arsenic you negociate with our bigger ones?
KEVIN HASSETT: I deliberation that it could beryllium that it'll beryllium both. But also, don't forget, that erstwhile we person large commercialized deals, our smaller trading partners could go overmuch bigger trading partners. And that's, I think, 1 of the reasons wherefore countries are racing to acceptable deals up with america up of the deadline.
WEIJA JIANG: I person to inquire you astir the deadlines, Kevin, to marque these deals, due to the fact that you conscionable mentioned you're ever open. The president said there's not truly immoderate flexibility near betwixt present and Wednesday. Less than 2 weeks ago, the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that deals would beryllium wrapped up by Labor Day. So, I wonder, you know, if- however tin companies program if the extremity posts support moving? How tin countries negociate if they don't adjacent cognize however overmuch clip they person left?
KEVIN HASSETT: Right. Well, the unsmooth outlines of the deals are becoming wide to everybody, due to the fact that we person immoderate deals similar the UK, and the Vietnam woody that are starting to be, you know, I guess, guidelines for what mightiness happen. But, 1 of the things that we're seeing that's truly absorbing to me, is that radical are conscionable on-shoring accumulation of the US astatine a grounds rate. As we've had grounds occupation creation, grounds superior spending, and this is adjacent up of the Big, Beautiful Bill. And so, I deliberation what's happening is that radical are responding to President Trump's, you know, imaginable threats to person precocious tariffs connected countries by moving their enactment present into the US, which is creating jobs, much than 2 cardinal jobs, since helium took office, and raising wages. You know, wage maturation is heading up towards the really, truly precocious pinnacles that we saw successful 2017. And so, I deliberation there's a contention close present to get enactment into the US. And, successful part, that contention has been kicked disconnected by President Trump.
WEIJA JIANG: I retrieve aft these reciprocal tariffs were announced, you told maine that determination were astir 15 deals that countries were bringing to the President. How close, if you could springiness america immoderate fig astatine all, what fig are we going to spot this week?
KEVIN HASSETT: Yeah, you'll have- you'll person to get that from Jameson and the President. I deliberation that, you know, we've seen tons of deals that person been finalized by our negotiators, and past the President finds things that could marque them better. And so, it's- I'm not going to get up of the President connected the fig of deals.
WEIJA JIANG: Okay, thanks, Kevin. We'll look retired for that. I privation to determination present to the One Big, Beautiful Bill that, of course, the President signed into instrumentality connected Independence Day. You person it, and present you person to wage for it. And there's a statement that this measure adds tremendously to the deficit. I cognize that you are truthful acquainted with these numbers. The Yale Budget Lab estimates it volition adhd $3 trillion to the debt. The Tax Foundation says this taxation information of the measure could besides adhd $3 trillion to the deficit. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which factors successful involvement connected the debt, says it could adhd up to $5 trillion implicit the adjacent decade. And connected this precise program, adjacent Speaker Johnson answered successful the affirmative erstwhile asked if this measure would adhd implicit $4 trillion to the deficit. I cognize that the medication says the measure volition really shrink the shortage by $1.5 trillion. Help maine recognize wherefore determination is specified a drastic quality betwixt your fig and each those others.
KEVIN HASSETT: Well- well, archetypal of all, let's retrieve that subject is not democracy. Truth is not democracy. Our estimates are based connected modeling that we utilized past time, erstwhile I was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to accidental what would hap if we had a bill, however overmuch maturation we would get. And we said, and we were criticized soundly, that we would get 3% growth. And we adjacent had the truly method macroeconomic models that said that we would get 3% growth. We tally the aforesaid models done this taxation bill, it's adjacent better. And what we're seeing is that if you get 3% maturation again, past that's $4 trillion much successful gross than the CBO and these different bodies are giving america recognition for. They person been incorrect successful the past, and they're being incorrect again, successful our belief. But, the happening that disappoints maine is that if I enactment retired a exemplary and I say, hey, here's what's going to happen, we're going to get 3% growth. And past it turns retired it's 1.5% growth, then, arsenic an world economist, arsenic a scientist, past it's my work to say, what did I get wrong? What did my exemplary miss? These radical aren't doing that. And that's the happening that I find disappointing, due to the fact that we enactment peer-reviewed world worldly connected the table, said we're going to get that 3% growth, and past we got it close past time, and we judge we're going to get it close this time. But, if you deliberation that 1.8% maturation is what's going to hap implicit the adjacent 10 years, past you should hold with the CBO number. But, there's different portion of the CBO fig that you request to interest about. And that is that if we don't walk the bill, that it's the biggest taxation hike successful history. And with that large taxation hike, that of course, we would person a recession. The CEA says that we'd person astir a 4% driblet successful GDP and suffer 9 cardinal jobs. If we had a 4% driblet successful GDP and we mislaid 9 cardinal jobs, what would hap to the deficit? And so, I don't deliberation that the CBO has a precise beardown record. I don't deliberation these places person a precise beardown record. And what they request to bash is get backmost to the basics of looking astatine macroeconomic models. There's a truly celebrated macroeconomist astatine Harvard named Jim Stock. They should spell backmost and work everything Jim Stock has written for the past 15 years, and fold those into their models, and past possibly we could talk.
WEIJA JIANG: I privation to speech too, Kevin, astir different fig that I cognize you and the President disagree with, but that Democrats and galore Republicans are disquieted about, and that's the CBO's projection that arsenic galore arsenic 12 cardinal Americans could suffer Medicaid sum due to the fact that of this law. What is the NEC's estimation for however galore radical could suffer coverage?
KEVIN HASSETT: Well- well, yeah. Let's- let's unbundle that a small bit. Because, first, connected the CBO coverage, truthful what are we doing? So, what we're doing is we're asking for a enactment requirement. But, the enactment request is that you request to beryllium looking for work, oregon adjacent doing unpaid work, and you don't request to bash it until your kids are 14 oregon older. And so, the thought that that's going to origin a monolithic hemorrhaging successful availability of insurance, doesn't marque a batch of consciousness to us. And then, if you look astatine the CBO numbers, if you look astatine the large numbers, they accidental that radical are going to suffer insurance. About 5 cardinal of those are radical who person different insurance. They're radical who person 2 types of insurance. And so, therefore, if they suffer one, they're inactive insured. And so, the CBO numbers connected that broadside don't marque immoderate consciousness to america astatine all. But, connected the different side, spell backmost to 2017 erstwhile we had enactment requirements for Obamacare, they said that we suffer astir 4 cardinal insured betwixt 2017 and 2019, and astir treble that implicit the adjacent 10 years. And, successful fact, the fig of insured went up. It went up rather a bit, by much than 10 cardinal implicit those 2 years, due to the fact that the bottommost enactment is, the champion mode to get security is to get a job. And we've got a Big, Beautiful Bill that's going to make a batch of occupation instauration and a batch of insurance, and the CBO is conscionable not accounting for that. And again, they request to spell backmost and look astatine each the things that they got wrong. You recognize that they're underestimating Medicaid spending by 20%. They should look backmost astatine each the things they got wrong, and explicate what they're going to bash to get it close successful the future, and to bash a amended job. And if they bash that, we'll instrumentality them much seriously. But close now, I don't deliberation immoderate superior thinker could instrumentality them seriously, due to the fact that they've done truthful wrong, and incorrect for truthful long. Even back- if you spell backmost to erstwhile President Obama passed Obamacare, they got each azygous fig determination incorrect astir however galore radical would get backstage security and however fewer radical would get Medicaid, and truthful on. And so, their grounds successful this modeling abstraction is astir arsenic atrocious arsenic it's imaginable to be. In fact, you could, benignant of, rotation the roulette instrumentality and travel up with a amended acceptable of numbers, amended history, way grounds than CBO.
WEIJA JIANG: Kevin, what astir the enhanced subsidies? Is that fig incorrect too? That the ACA allows astir $705 for radical to assistance wage for their wellness insurance. That doesn't dependable similar the waste, fraud, and maltreatment that I cognize you and the President person talked astir eliminating. That conscionable sounds similar radical who cannot spend coverage, and present it's going to beryllium adjacent much truthful with the subsidies gone.
KEVIN HASSETT: Right. Well- well, if you're- if you're looking astatine the- the alteration successful the taxation connected the providers, which is thing that has been a cardinal talking constituent for the Democrats, they accidental that that's going to adjacent down agrarian hospitals. What has happened is that, alternatively than fto the states- the states person this crippled wherever they springiness a dollar to a infirmary and past the national authorities matches the dollar, and past the authorities taxes immoderate of the dollar away. In different words, that we person an statement with the states that they're going to match, but past they person this they person this instrumentality wherever they taxation the hospitals aft they springiness them the money, truthful really, it's the national authorities giving them the money. And that's wherefore we've been overspending Medicaid by 20% since this instrumentality started happening. And so, what we've done is that we've enactment a haircut connected that. But, we've besides enactment $50 cardinal into a spot money to marque definite that the agrarian hospitals are determination to dainty the sick. So, I deliberation this is simply a prudent form. It's dependable budgetary politics. And I deliberation that nobody's going to suffer their insurance.
WEIJA JIANG: Kevin Hassett, we volition ticker for however that ages. Thank you precise much. Really admit --
KEVIN HASSETT: - And if I get it wrong, we'll check, and we'll speech astir wherefore I got it wrong. I promise.
WEIJA JIANG: Thank you. We'll person you back. Thank you precise much, Kevin.
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