Washington, DC - On Fox Business “Mornings With Maria,” Administration officials outlined the many benefits Americans are experiencing as a result of President Trump’s tax cuts and reforms after just six months.
STEVEN MNUCHIN, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: “We’re beginning to see the impact of the tax cuts on bigger growth, a healthy economy, and hardworking taxpayers getting money back.”
MNUCHIN: “As we said all along, the President’s economic agenda was focused on tax cuts, regulatory relief, and trade, and we’re really seeing now the impacts of tax cuts and regulatory relief kick in. As you commented, we’re expecting a very big quarter, and let me give the disclaimer, I have no advanced notice as to what it is. The Atlanta Fed is projecting 4.7. Whether we hit that or not, this is an enormous quarter, and we’re beginning to see the impact of the tax cuts on bigger growth, a healthy economy, and hardworking taxpayers getting money back.”
ALEX ACOSTA, SECRETARY OF LABOR: “Everyone is winning with these tax cuts.”
ACOSTA: “We’ve had 1 million new jobs alone since the tax cut, 3.4 million since President Trump was elected. And it’s not just the new jobs. It’s wages are going up. Everyone is winning with these tax cuts.”
MICK MULVANEY, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: “It’s exactly what we hoped it would be.”
MULVANEY: “Add to that the confidence levels, business, individuals, everybody looks at the government now and says you know what, they’re not out to get us, they’re not going to stick it to us. They’re actually going to let us succeed and let us prosper without getting in our way. And that’s why you see consumer confidence up, business confidence up, foreign investors now have more confidence in the United States, so it’s exactly what we hoped it would be.”
LINDA MCMAHON, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION: “It’s amazing what tax cuts have done, and how it has stimulated the economy.”
MCMAHON: “For the first time, we have more jobs than we have people looking for them … It’s amazing what tax cuts have done, and how it has stimulated the economy.”
IVANKA TRUMP, SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT: “Families are going to experience the relief, the doubling of the child tax credit, which is enormously important to American families and working families.”
TRUMP: “We see it every single day in terms of the amount people are investing in their businesses, they’re becoming more competitive, they’re more able to compete in the global landscape. Families are going to experience the relief, the doubling of the child tax credit, which is enormously important to American families and working families, as the cost of raising children has gone up so dramatically, yet for so long until recently wages have all been stagnant. So it’s a very exciting time, and I think we see it manifested in the optimism of the American worker and of American small business and large business.”
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: “If there are more jobs available than job seekers, it gives you freedom.”
CONWAY: “You talk about the metrics surrounding the tax cut, but it’s the buoyancy, it’s the confidence that people are spending their money, they can make plans. If there are more jobs available than job seekers, it gives you freedom. You’re not stuck in your job.”
LARRY KUDLOW, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: “A lot of our critics said you could never beat two percent [economic growth]. We’re now beating three percent, and we’re on an upswing.”
KUDLOW: “If anything it’s come on faster and stronger. It’s a very healthy economy right now. Folks said it couldn’t be done. You know, GDP may be an abstract number, but it’s a good measure of the overall economy. A lot of our critics said you could never beat two percent. We’re now beating three percent, and we’re on an upswing coming up when the numbers come out for the second quarter, and I think it’s going to hold up.”
KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: “Not only are American firms putting money back to work in the U.S., but foreign firms are as well.”
HASSETT: “If we look at the economic data, the big thing that we see is that the capital spending explosion that we predicted would happen – which is ultimately going to benefit workers because the jobs are coming home and the wages go up when there is more capital – it’s happening already. In fact, if you look even at foreign direct investment, it skyrocketed in the first quarter because not only are American firms putting money back to work in the U.S., but foreign firms are as well.”
JOVITA CARRANZA, TREASURER OF THE UNITED STATES: “It’s a great, great return for the taxpayers who have been waiting for decades.”
CARRANZA: “It’s a comprehensive tax reform that not only impacts small businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, mid-sized companies with their capex expenditures, now they’re affording better benefits, health benefits for their employees, they’re matching 401(k) plans, they’re actually promoting from within. So it’s a great, great return for the taxpayers who have been waiting for decades.”