President Trump, during a pre-vacation press conference at the White House, touted the June jobs report stating that the economy is beginning to recover from the depths of its collapse during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our economy is booming,” Trump said Thursday, saying that the response to the coronavirus pandemic, coordinated with the governors, “is working very well.”
He added: “These are historical numbers.”
“The United States economy added nearly 5 million jobs in the month of June, breaking all expectations,” Trump said. “The stock market is working extremely well … this is the largest monthly job gain in our country’s history.”
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Trump also hit presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, without naming him, warning that any effort to raise taxes would reverse economic gains.
“These are numbers that are not numbers that other presidents would have,” Trump said. “The only thing that can kill him is a bad president or a president who wants to raise taxes. He wants to raise taxes, all of this, his 401Ks will fall to nothing and his stock market will fall to nothing.”
Trump did not answer questions. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also spoke to the press, saying it is fortunate that the country has never reached 30 million unemployed people, which was projected by some.
Thursday’s report showed the economy added 4.8 million jobs in June, reducing the unemployment rate to 11.1 percent. Economists expected the rate to be 12.3 percent with an increase of just 3 million jobs.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House, Thursday, July 2, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
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The job numbers serve as positive news for the president, who is embroiled in several controversies at once. They range from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to his support for keeping the names of Confederate generals on military bases.
The president is also under fire from members of both parties in Congress after reports he knew about Russia’s intelligence paying rewards to Afghan militants for killing US soldiers. Trump and the White House have denied that he was ever briefed on that issue.
Trump also blamed China on Thursday for the coronavirus pandemic.
“They could have stopped him,” he said. “They know it and I know it.”
Trump added that increases in cases (“hotspots”) in some cities would be “temporary.” Trump claimed that without the measures taken by the governors and his administration, “millions” of lives would have been lost to the virus.
“State officials will decide” on the reopening of their economies, Trump said, but the federal government could step in if it sees something “appalling.”
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He also said his administration was working with Congress on a “phase four” coronavirus relief bill, which he alluded to could include payroll tax cuts.
The comments came as the Biden campaign was opening a new avenue of attack on Trump over the European Union’s decision to prevent Americans from traveling to the continent over coronavirus concerns.
“Because Trump cannot do the most basic parts of his job, the United States is now considered to pose a risk to global health,” Biden told the Washington Post. “Today, the United States is the first in infections, first in deaths, and the EU has decided to ban Americans from traveling there when Europe reopens.”
The unemployment rate, which remains astronomically high at 11.1 percent, is significantly lower than what some economists predicted could be just a few months ago; some projections say it could approach 20 percent due to persistent state closings.
Those stops, backed by Trump, have been partially lifted in many cases. But as coronavirus cases rise to some of the highest daily numbers so far, some states are re-imposing closures, which could jeopardize the economy in the future.
The nation has now recovered about a third of the 22 million jobs it lost due to the pandemic recession. However, the new closings keep layoffs high.
But some on the left warn that the economy is not yet fixed.
“The real economic story: the reopening brought a substantial rebound in jobs, but also an increase in Covid-19 cases, which already seems to have stalled the recovery. This is probably as good as possible. And we still have unemployment double-digit, “New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said Thursday.
He added: “By the time reality comes in the form of a health care crisis and dwindling economic numbers, it will be too late to avoid both the large number of deaths and a long period of stagnation or worse. If Trump loses, probably but not true , Biden will face hell. “
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Trump’s son Eric Trump praised the job numbers on Thursday.
“JUNE JOB NUMBERS EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS BY 1.6 MILLION JOBS! 4.8 MILLION vs. 3.2 MILLION ESTIMATED RATES The unemployment rate falls to 11.1% (from 13.3%),” he tweeted.
“A lot of people would have withered away,” President Trump said at the close of his comments. “We did not wither, and our country did not wither.”
Fox Business’s Megan Henney and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
