Over 50 countries have contacted White House to start trade talks, Trump adviser says

More than 50 countries have reached out to the White House to begin trade talks, a top economic adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday as U.S. officials sought to defend sweeping new tariffs that have unleashed global turmoil.

During an interview on ABC News' 'This Week,' U.S. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett denied that the tariffs were part of a strategy by Trump to crash financial markets to pressure the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

He said there were would be no "political coercion" of the central bank. In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump shared a video that suggested his tariffs aimed to hammer the stock market on purpose in a bid to force lower interest rates.

In a separate interview on NBC News's Meet the Press, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the stock market drop and said there was "no reason" to anticipate a recession based on the tariffs.

Trump jolted economies around the world after he announced broad tariffs on U.S. imports on Wednesday, triggering retaliatory levies from China and sparking fears of a globe trade war and recession.

On Sunday morning talk shows, top Trump officials sought to portray the tariffs as a savvy repositioning of the U.S. in the global trade order and the economic disruptions as a short-term fallout.

Reuters