The crazy stock market isn’t dampening Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confidence in the nation’s economy.
“I’m not overly concerned about the market volatility,” Mnuchin said on Capitol Hill Tuesday, as he momentarily checked his phone to relay to lawmakers that the Dow was “now up 187 points.”
Mnuchin said he spoke to market players ahead of the House Financial Services Committee hearing to ensure that traders and other companies that keep the markets running were ready for action. “I’m happy to report that I have the green lights,” he said.
He added, “We continue to believe in the long-term impact on the stock market.”
When asked whether the Trump administration would take responsibility for the recent market downturn, Mnuchin said “we’ll still claim credit that it’s up more than 30% since the election.”
Trump has repeatedly touted stock market rallies throughout the 13 months of his presidency, but has said little about the recent downturn.
The stock market dip follows months of record highs, but still leaves the Dow at a significantly higher level than it was when Trump took office.
On Monday, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said that “markets do fluctuate in the short term, I think we all know that. But the fundamentals of this economy are very strong.”
–CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.
