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Speaking with host Margaret Brennan, Hassett revealed that Trump has “cut the trade deficit in half from last year.”¹
That single statistic undercuts years of left wing economic dogma.
For decades, Americans were told trade deficits did not matter. Factories were gone forever. China’s rise was unavoidable. Trump rejected that narrative and voters believed him.
Now the numbers back him up.
The announcement could not have come at a worse moment for Democrats who spent most of 2025 warning that Trump’s tariffs would collapse the economy.
Instead of collapse, the opposite is happening.
Hassett followed with another revelation that stunned fiscal hawks.
“It’s looking like the deficit for this year will be $600 billion lower than it was last year,” Hassett explained.¹
That is real deficit reduction. Not accounting tricks. Not promises. Actual results.
And it came from the same policies Democrats swore would explode the budget.
Larry Summers lashes out as the narrative crumbles
The moment Hassett laid out the facts, the predictable response followed.
Former Obama Treasury Secretary Larry Summers rushed to television to attack Trump’s economic record.
Appearing on ABC, Summers declared, “This is the biggest self-inflicted wound we’ve put on our economy in history.”²
Coming from Summers, the statement landed with little credibility.
His record on economic forecasting is littered with high profile failures.
In 2021, Summers warned that Biden’s stimulus spending was the “least responsible macroeconomic policy in 40 years” and would unleash uncontrollable inflation.³
Inflation did rise, but Summers repeatedly misidentified both the causes and the remedies.
Other economists dismantled his argument, pointing instead to supply chain disruptions and corporate pricing behavior.⁴
The American Prospect criticized Summers for “science denial about inflation” after he refused to abandon theories contradicted by real world data.⁴
Summers also insisted that mass unemployment was necessary to bring inflation down.⁵ That never happened.
Inflation cooled without the recession he demanded.
The Nation later documented how Summers has been “spectacularly wrong again and again” across multiple economic cycles.⁶
His standing deteriorated so badly that Joe Biden declined to offer him any role in his administration.⁶
Trump’s trade strategy delivers exactly what was promised
While critics talk, Trump’s policies continue to deliver.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The New York Times that tariffs are “good for labor” and are generating significant revenue while correcting long standing trade imbalances.⁷
The White House confirmed that November’s federal deficit was cut by more than half compared to the same month last year, driven largely by tariff income.⁸
Trade data shows the deficit with China shrinking to its second smallest level since 2009.
Real exports rose at a 4.1 percent annual rate in the third quarter, while imports fell roughly 5 percent, adding about one percent to GDP growth.⁸
More than 50 countries have approached the United States to renegotiate trade agreements because Trump’s tariffs gave him leverage no president had before.²
Trump has already secured improved trade deals covering more than half of global GDP, including agreements with the United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia.⁸
Under Biden, the situation deteriorated.
In 2024 alone, the U.S. trade deficit with China reached $263.3 billion, higher than the year before.⁹ Deficits with Canada, Mexico, and the EU also grew significantly.⁹
Now those same countries are racing back to the negotiating table.
The establishment refuses to admit Trump was right
Democrat aligned economists continue spinning.
They point to early 2025 trade data showing temporary import spikes as businesses rushed ahead of tariff deadlines. That behavior was expected.
What matters is what followed. Imports declined. Exports stabilized. The trade deficit narrowed. Manufacturing investment returned.
Budget groups funded by progressive donors claim Trump’s tax policies are harming the deficit, while ignoring record tariff revenue and aggressive spending reductions through DOGE.
Institutions like the Peterson Institute criticize Trump while benefiting financially from the global trade system that devastated American industrial communities.
The facts are now undeniable.
Manufacturing is returning as companies reconsider overseas production.
Trade imbalances are shrinking.
Federal deficits are falling.
Economic growth remains strong despite dire predictions.
Democrats cannot explain it because acknowledging success would mean admitting their economic worldview failed.
Trump challenged globalization orthodoxy and won.
And the numbers prove it.
