Ken Griffin, the billionaire chief of the Citadel Investment empire, recently expressed his amazement at how President Donald Trump has had the fortitude to survive multiple assassination attempts while still bringing his A-game for the American people.<\/p>\n
\u201cResilient,\u201d Griffin called him.<\/p>\n
You can say the same thing about the Trump economy.<\/p>\n
Yes, there are headwinds: The war in Iran continues to create economic uncertainty<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prices remain stubbornly high, thanks to sticky inflation<\/a> that wasn\u2019t helped by Trump\u2019s tariff policies.<\/p>\n Many people are working, but finding a new job isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence is bringing rapid, sometimes unsettling change to various industries.<\/p>\n Current economic growth is decent \u2014 at a 2% annualized rate \u2014 but nothing to rave about.<\/p>\n But unless I\u2019m missing something, the stock market keeps reaching record highs<\/a>, buoyed by the mother\u2019s milk known as corporate earnings, the ultimate indicator of underlying economic strength.<\/p>\n Those earnings are also heading toward record levels<\/a>, possibly growing more than 21% in 2026, analysts say.<\/p>\n It\u2019s \u201cone of the best earnings seasons in 20 years,\u201d Deutsche Bank number-crunchers said this week.<\/p>\n If history is any guide, such solid earnings and strong balance sheets mean one thing: Companies are poised to hire, maybe exponentially, once the current economic cycle turns.<\/p>\n I know what the naysayers are thinking: This time it\u2019s different.<\/p>\n AI is creating amazing productivity gains, computerizing tasks that were once handled by humans.<\/p>\n Big companies can continue to churn profits, their stocks zooming up, without the real economy of Average Americans sharing their prosperity.<\/p>\n Wall Street and corporate America are winning, while Main Street just muddles along.<\/p>\n One problem with that argument is that it ignores the reality of the modern US economy: Wall Street and Main Street are more intertwined than ever.<\/p>\n Average Americans are stock investors, through their 401k and pension plans.<\/p>\n Blackrock CEO Larry Fink makes the point that middle America will embrace AI by investing in it, and many are.<\/p>\n