White House deputy chief of staff James Blair in a podcast on Friday said market volatility “will settle out a little bit” in April, once the markets are able to “absorb and price in” the recent tariffs.
“I think things will settle down as some of the tariff stuff comes into clearer focus for the markets to be able to absorb and price in, then the volatility… will settle down a little bit,” he said on POLITICO’s “Deep Dive” podcast Friday.
When host Rachael Bade asked Blair if he could guarantee to the business community that there would be some predictably going forward, he said President Trump is a businessman who understands how business planning works.
“We have only been here eight weeks but the president does want to provide predictability to the markets, to businesses, so that they can do their business planning in a way that they can count on,” he added.
Tariffs imposed by Trump have contributed to gyrations in the market and uncertainty with the economy. More tariffs are expected on April 2, when Trump has promised to impose reciprocal tariffs on foreign imports meant to match penalties other countries impose on U.S. exports.
The Trump aide predicted that “we will get to a place very soon” where businesses would feel “pretty comfortable with how to plan.”
He further noted that tax cuts are expiring at the end of the year unless they are renewed, which adds an element of uncertainty to the economic situation.
“It’s really just stopping the bleeding and sort of stabilizing [the] process that’s leading to some volatility,” he added.
“I am not an economist, but I think that will settle down pretty soon.”
Last week, Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent expressed similar views about the economic situation, saying he is “not worried about the markets” following a rough week for the stock market.
“I can tell you that corrections are healthy, they’re normal,” Bessent told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” “What’s not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets. That’s how you get a financial crisis.”
