President Donald Trump said he was “thinking about” cutting payroll taxes on Tuesday, less than a day after the White House disclaimed rumors that a payroll tax cut was in the works.
“Payroll tax is something we think about, and a lot of people would like to see that, and that very much affects the workers of our country,” Trump told reporters at the White House in a half-hour discussion.
Trump continued on to explain that he has “been thinking about payroll taxes for a long time” — and he cautioned that “whether or not we do something now, it’s not being done because of recession.”
President Trump said he is also pondering measures to shore up the economy, including a possible decrease in capital-gains taxes, as he has continued to press the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, even as he played down warning signs of a possible slowdown.
“We’re looking at various tax reductions,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “But I’m looking at that all the time anyway.” He added: “We’re very far from a recession.”
In the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, Trump said, “I think the word recession is a word that’s inappropriate because it’s just a word that certain people, I’m going to be kind, certain people and the media are trying to build up because they would love to see a recession. We are very far from a recession.”
Of course as tensions ramp up with the trade war with China, and the stock market has been struggling to make new highs since it sold off late last month, following remarks from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, President Trump seems increasingly concerned with how the economy and stocks will fare.
Just last week, President Trump consulted banking experts after all three indices plummeted about 3%, with the Dow’s posting an 800-point loss on amid the recession signal from the bond market. The stock market took a huge hit in the previous session with the Dow plunging in its fourth-largest point drop ever to a two-month low. The Dow’s 3% fall was the worst this year. The S&P 500 also slid nearly 3%.
Nevertheless, on Tuesday afternoon, Trump said from the White House, “I think the word recession is a word that’s inappropriate because it’s just a word that certain people, I’m going to be kind, certain people and the media are trying to build up because they would love to see a recession. We are very far from a recession.”
While waiting to see how the story unfolds in the coming months, investors looking at how to protect portfolios during times of market declines could consider an ETF like the
AGFiQ US Market Neutral Anti-Beta Fund (BTAL), which in general, is inversely correlated with baskets of stocks like the S&P 500.
