Concerns about the nation’s economy have grown in the first months of President Donald Trump’s return to office, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, as few Americans see his policies as having helped economic conditions and 55% say his cuts to federal programs will do economic harm.

President Donald Trump is pushing back against talk of a recession.

"I don't see it at all. I think this country is going to boom," the president told reporters on Tuesday as he inspected a Tesla electric vehicle that was parked on the South Lawn of the White House, courtesy of top Trump adviser Elon Musk, the car company's billionaire CEO.

Tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. That is all the media talks about these days, gleeful to see President Trump’s popularity take a hit as he imposes taxes on imports.  

Nothing else gets the same attention. Inflation, unemployment claims moving lower? Wait ’til tariffs kick in, chants the chorus. Oil prices down? Manufacturing increasing? Money coming in from overseas? But those tariffs…  

A U.S. federal judge on Thursday ordered six federal agencies to rehire thousands of probationary workers fired as part of Donald Trump’s push to slash the size and scope of government.

The ruling is the latest judicial setback for the administration, coming on the heels of a string of legal defeats that nevertheless seem not to have slowed the pace of change.

A federal judge in San Francisco ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies, blasting their tactics Thursday as he slowed the new president’s dramatic downsizing of the federal government.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup said that the terminations were directed by the Office of Personnel Management and its acting director, Charles Ezell, who lacked the authority to do so.

Donald Trump has a gift for inheriting valuable things. And the economy of January 2025 was no exception.

When the president took office, stock values were hitting record highs, unemployment was hovering near historic lows, and consumer confidence was stable. Wall Street expected that business conditions would only improve. Among investors, conventional wisdom held that Trump was serious about corporate tax cuts — but not about launching an unprovoked trade war against America’s closest allies (a proposition too pointless and self-destructive to be sincere).

Prices for goods and services moved up less than expected in February, providing some relief as consumers and businesses worry about the looming impact tariffs might have on inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

The consumer price index, a wide-ranging measure of costs across the U.S. economy, ticked up a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.8%, according to the Labor Department agency. All-item CPI had increased 0.5% in January.

Inflation cooled slightly in February even as the pace of price growth remained well above the Federal Reserve's goal ahead of the central bank's policy meeting next week.

The Labor Department on Wednesday said that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.2% in February compared with last month, while it rose 2.8% on an annual basis.

Inflation slowed more than expected in February and cooled for the first time in four months, but that progress may be short lived as President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war, which threatens to increase prices for Americans.

The Consumer Price Index, which measures price changes across commonly purchased goods and services, was 2.8% for the 12 months ended in February, a cooldown from the 3% annual rate notched in January, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2%, versus 0.5% in January.

Even as the Trump administration continues to slash federal jobs, a number of federal agencies have begun to reverse course — reinstating some workers and pausing plans to dismiss others, sometimes within days of the firings.