DEMS/ECONOMY/POLLS/ROBERT MUELLER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. economy is defying dire predictions of a slowdown this year with growth strengthening, wages rising, unemployment falling and markets rocking to new highs. It should be an incumbent president’s dream and a nightmare for those trying to replace him. But President Donald Trump is living a split-screen life. Despite occasional efforts to change the subject and boast about the economy, he can’t escape the shadow of the Mueller report. Congressional Democrats keep peppering his administration with subpoenas and chattering about impeachment. Polls show Trump’s overall approval rating falling even as the economy displays remarkable resilience…For now, Trump is getting win after win on the economic front. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indices hit new records this week after tanking hard last December on fears of an imminent global slowdown. Job growth continues to hit around 200,000 per month. And an expected 2019 slowdown has not materialized, with the first read of first-quarter growth released Friday showing the economy expanded at a strong 3.2 percent rate in the first three months of the year, much better than expected for a period marked by an ugly government shutdown.”
–Ben White and Victoria Guida, “Trump defies doubters with surging economy,” Politico, April 26, 2019 9:08 am