GOP’s Rick Scott Confronted on ‘Disturbance’ From Trump Economic Policies

Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, was confronted on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday about the “disturbance” from President Donald Trump’s economic policies.

Newsweek has reached out to Scott’s office via email for comment on Sunday.

Why It Matters

Previous polling showed that the economy was the most important issue to voters in the 2024 election—with many casting their ballots for Trump hoping he would fulfill his pledge to curb inflation while revitalizing U.S. trade and industry.

However, economists have expressed concerns that Trump’s policies will increase prices as some are warning that the American economy may be on a path toward recession or a downturn that could rival those of 2020 and 2008.

These concerns have been heightened by falling retail sales and associated layoffs, and the anticipated impacts of Trump’s tariffs on prices and domestic consumption.

What To Know

Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly imposed and paused various tariffs, causing uncertainty for businesses that rely on manufacturing and supply chains in Mexico and Canada, as well as consumers.

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods, typically paid by the importing businesses, which can then pass costs onto consumers through higher prices. The importing business could be any American company that purchases goods from foreign suppliers and brings them into the country for resale, manufacturing, or distribution. Tariffs are often used to protect domestic industries by making foreign goods more expensive and encouraging consumers to buy locally.

Trump recently implemented 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, along with a 10 percent increase in tariffs on Chinese goods. The three countries announced retaliatory measures in response, which have further impacted the volatile situation.

However, Trump announced a one-month pause on tariffs on Canada and Mexico products covered by the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) free trade treaty on Thursday.

The pause came after he addressed the tariffs during the joint address to Congress on Tuesday when Trump said there would be a “little disturbance” to the economy due to the implementation of tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China, but that they would ultimately make the United States “rich again.”

During an interview appearance on State of the Union, Scott was asked by host Jake Tapper about the president’s economic policies and how bad this “disturbance” is going to be and how long is it going to last.

Scott responded: “Donald Trump walked in with a crappy economy. The number of full-time jobs has been dropping almost the entire Biden administration. This is a lot of work. The manufactured jobs are coming back, that had not been happening under Biden, that is a big deal. The number one thing is we’ve got to get American manufacturing back into this country. So, I’m very optimistic that we are going to get this done.”

When pressed by Tapper on how long the “disturbance” is going to last, the senator said, “The disturbance is the 20 percent inflation under Biden. The fact there are no full-time jobs, so it’s already changing. We’re already adding full-time jobs. I’m very optimistic it is going to happen very quickly.”

While it is unclear what full-time job numbers Scott is referring to, U.S. employers defied expectations by adding 256,000 jobs in December 2024 under former President Joe Biden from 212,000 in November 2024, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released in early January. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate slightly decreased to 4.1 percent in December 2024 from 4.2 percent in November 2024.

At 12.9 million employees, the U.S. manufacturing sector in December is essentially the same size it was at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the U.S. added 151,000 jobs in February, with an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent in the first jobs report covering Trump’s second term, according to the monthly employment report released Friday by the Labor Department.

While it’s true that many Americans are still feeling the effects of high prices, inflation has cooled down from pandemic-era highs. This led the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates three times last year to between 4.25 and 4.5 percent after raising it 11 times in 2022 and 2023 to curb inflation. As of August 2024, the average year-over-year inflation rate under Biden is 5.2 percent, Investopedia reported.

American manufacturing has been at the forefront of Trump’s economic agenda, specifically in the automotive industry.

On the real impact of tariffs on foreign imports, Ford CEO Jim Farley said 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico would “blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we have never seen,” and that what he had witnessed from the administration so far had been “a lot of costs and a lot of chaos.”

His comments, made during a recent conference in New York and shared with The New York Times, echo those made by Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors.

“With respect to possible tariffs, we are working across our supply chain, logistics network and assembly plants so that we are prepared to mitigate near-term impacts. Many of these actions are no cost or low cost,” Barra said during the company’s most recent earnings call in January. “What we won’t do is spend large amount of capital without clarity.”

Ford and General Motors were among the automakers handed a one-month exemption to Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

Despite these concerns, many CEOs are still optimistic about the impact of Trump’s policies on the U.S. economy.

During the Bloomberg Invest conference this week, Cathie Wood, CEO of global asset management firm Ark Invest, said Trump’s policies would usher in a business boom similar to the “golden age” experienced during Ronald Reagan’s administration.

What People Are Saying

David Wessel, senior fellow in Economic Studies and director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution, previously told Newsweek: “The U.S. economy has a lot of momentum and I don’t see any signs that the U.S. has entered a recession, but I do wonder if we are at an inflection point.

“My major concern is that the on-again/off-again tariffs, the ripple effects of the ham-fisted DOGE-led personnel policies, the challenges to long-held norms and institutions, policy-making by Musk tweets or Trump Truth Social posts is creating uncertainty and anxiety that could lead businesses and maybe even investors to say, well, I think I’m going to wait and see.”

President Donald Trump during Tuesday’s joint Congress address: “Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the Golden Age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplish in four years or eight years—and we are just getting started.”

Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin said in a statement on Tuesday: “Tonight, every Republican got out of their seats and gave a standing ovation for skyrocketing costs, economic freefall, and the next American recession—brought to you by Donald Trump. I dare every single one of these Republicans who blindly applauded for Trump to go home and meet their voters face-to-face. But they won’t, because they know that the Republican tax scam to take money out of the pockets of working people to give trillions in handouts to the rich will cost them their jobs.”

What Happens Next?

Canadian and Mexican goods that meet the USMCA criteria will be spared from Trump’s 25 percent tariffs until April 2.

Supply chain disrupters and increased import costs are likely to impact U.S. consumer prices in the coming months.