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Hassett Briefs Reporters on the Q1 GDP Report and the Tariff Import Surge, Apr. 30, 2025

April 30, 2025 · Roll Call Factbase Videos · 0:07:35

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett spoke to reporters outside the White House on April 30, 2025, the day of the first-quarter GDP release, in Roll Call Factbase Videos’ recording. Hassett argued the headline number was distorted by ‘a fairly extraordinary surge of imports’ as the rest of the world rushed products in ahead of the tariffs — a one-shot drag he said would reverse — and put underlying growth at about 3% once the volatility was stripped out, as he stated it. He cited $5 trillion in investment pledges and a 22% increase in domestic investment, and pointed to the coming tax bill’s 100% expensing for equipment and buildings as the next stimulus.

Asked about China and Boeing, Hassett described Beijing’s industrial plans as absorbing and digesting foreign technology, said Boeing’s China market share had fallen from 55% to 40% since the Biden years as he stated it, and said other countries were willing to buy the jets China was refusing.

Why it matters

The gaggle is Hassett’s first economic-messenger set piece of the term: the template — dismiss the soft data, litigate the hard data, and attribute the quarter to tariff-driven investment — that he repeated at the White House sticks all year.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: Hassett’s April 30, 2025 figures as stated — about 3% underlying growth, $5 trillion in pledges, domestic investment up 22% — flagged for the scoreboard editors; the entry itself remains review-gated.

Sources: Roll Call Factbase Videos, ‘Press Briefing: Kevin Hassett Speaks to Reporters Outside the White House — April 30, 2025,’ uploaded May 12, 2025 (video UtUx4ZWrGX0); transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, never republished verbatim).