Donald Trump’s swaggering tour of the Middle East ended with a sobering dose of domestic reality on Friday as the president headed home to a credit rating downgrade, gloomy data on consumer sentiment and challenges to his flagship tax bill.
Over the past two weeks, Trump has seen his approval ratings improve and equity markets bounce back strongly after pausing some of the more aggressive import tariffs he announced in early April. Labour market and inflation data has also been encouraging, defusing fears that a sharp slowdown or even a recession could be imminent.
But while the president was aboard Air Force One en route to Washington from Abu Dhabi, Moody’s stripped the US of its top-notch triple-a credit rating on concerns about rising levels of government debt.