Trump’s top financial guru says economy ‘looks amazing’ – despite countless polls saying Americans are worried

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett has insisted the U.S. economy is in “amazing” shape, despite more than three-quarters of Americans expressing deep anxiety over it.Hassett appeared on CNN’s The Lead Thursday and was confronted with a new poll conducted by the network and SSRS, which reported that 77 percent of respondents said they believed the nation’s financial health was currently either very poor or somewhat poor.The same study also found that 70 percent of those surveyed said they disapproved of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy specifically while 73 percent were unhappy with him on inflation and 79 percent were dissatisfied with him over gas prices.Some 65 percent of Americans said they believed Trump had actually made the economy worse since taking office, with just 22 percent seeing an improvement.But Hassett was not convinced, insisting the signs are positive and that consumers are feeling “optimistic.”National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett has insisted the U.S. economy 'looks amazing’ (The Lead/CNN)Anchor Pamela Brown pushed back on her guest’s upbeat tone, telling him: “We have this poll where 77 percent of Americans say economic conditions are overall poor. That is the lowest of Trump’s second term so far.“Is this the ‘amazing economy’ the administration thought you’d all be boasting about when the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ was passed more than a year ago?”“Well, again, right now the economy does look amazing to me,” Hassett insisted. “The inflation’s going down, the unemployment rate is low.” He went on to claim “almost no one’s getting fired” and that final demand [a measure of goods and services purchased] is “up about 4 percent,” which is roughly what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had predicted, he said.“I think that what you’re seeing is really, really strong growth,” Hassett continued, saying he took confidence ahead of November’s midterms from Yale professor Ray Fair’s famous contention that people vote based on what’s in their pockets.President Donald Trump has failed to restore confidence in the economy, with 77 percent of people telling CNN/SSRS that they believe it is in a very poor or somewhat poor state (Getty)Brown responded by pointing to the most recent jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed the economy had added only around half the number of roles economists had forecast.“The job growth cooled last month and 65 percent of people – these Americans, everyday Americans – they say President Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in this country,” she said. “That’s 10 percent more than in the final months of the Biden administration. So, I mean, you say the economy looks ‘amazing,’ but what do you say to that person who’s part of that group, that 66 percent who say Trump has actually made the economic conditions worse?”Hassett attempted to discredit the poll and reiterate the upbeat message with which he opened.“You know, I just don’t believe a poll like that, given how strong the numbers are and how strong income growth is, how optimistic people are,” he said.Gas prices are seen as a particular cause of concern, with 79 percent of poll respondents saying they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the problem, not least because of the Iran war (Getty)“The best measure of how optimistic people are is – are they consuming? What happens when people are pessimistic is they start doing what we call precautionary savings. They cut back expenditures because they’re worried they might lose their job or something bad would happen in the future. “When you’ve got strong consumption growth, like we’re signing right now, then consumers are by definition very optimistic. They’re not being cautious at all. So I just don’t believe that poll.”Despite Hassett’s dismissal of the survey’s findings, voters have been warning the Trump administration for months that the affordability crisis remains their primary concern and that they do not feel the president is doing enough to address the situation.Trump’s approval rating has tanked accordingly, with one poll released by Quinnipiac University Wednesday putting it as low as 32 percent and another from AP-NORC a day later placing him at 33 percent, bad news for Republicans already fearful of a wipeout come November.