Zachary LeemanMay 10th, 2026, 11:21 am

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett admitted Americans will continue getting hit with “higher costs” as he gave a positive spin on the economy on Saturday.

Hassett joined Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures where he pushed a positive view of the economy, though admitted Americans will continue paying higher prices in the “short term” amid the Iran war. National gas prices have jumped by approximately $2 a gallon since the start of the war.

Both Bartiromo and Hassett pointed to a stronger-than-expected jobs report in April and upticks in Nasdaq, S&P, and Dow as signs the economy remains strong.

Check out the exchange below:

MARIA BARTIROMO: Let’s talk about the backdrop here. It’s interesting to see this market keep up strongly even in the middle of a war. What is driving the economy, and how would you assess growth in the U.S. Right now?

KEVIN HASSETT: There’s a huge difference between what we’re seeing in the market right now and what we saw back in the ’90s during the dot.com bubble. What’s happening is AI is being folded into the operations of so many companies that they’re seeing their profitability and their revenues, even their employment, skyrocket. And so we’ve had a couple of quarters in a row where earnings surprised on the upside more than they ever have. And that’s why equity markets are up. In the end, it’s the earnings that describe what the price should be. And there’s an earnings boom going on something unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

BARTIROMO: So in terms of the price of oil and gas and spike, this has to mean higher costs for corporate America and for consumers.

HASSETT: Well, it does in the short run. And you mentioned Secretary [Scott] Bessent who follows these numbers, you know, he made a lot of money following these numbers in the past and being able to trade, and he says these future markets are saying basically once we yet the Strait [of Hormuz] open… there’s going to be a gusher of oil released from the Gulf, and that’s going to put prices down relatively quickly. Now, there’s a little bit of a time lag from that. We’ve got to get the boats to move from the Persian Gulf to especially Asia where jet fuels are so high and that can take a month or two. But once, basically, the gusher opens, we expect oil prices can drop relatively quickly and, certainly, ahead of the election.

Watch above via Fox News.

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