POLITICO Nightly: Trump’s risky recession dance
By Sudeep Reddy President Donald Trump delivers remarks after signing an executive order on reciprocal tariffs in the Oval Office on Feb. 13. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images ‘PERIOD OF TRANSITION’ — President Donald Trump and some of his top officials are engaging in an eyebrow-raising strategy in the first weeks of their administration: warning of economic tremors and entertaining the prospect of a recession. Generating ominous headlines about an economic downturn may not seem like a natural path to winning public support for Trump’s “golden age of America.” And it’s left people from Washington to Wall Street wondering what’s really at play. The unusual drumbeat picked up in recent days amid rising market volatility. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday warned of a “detox” period for the economy as the Trump administration hacks away at federal spending. Trump himself followed over the weekend by declining to brush off rising fears of an economi...