Not even Trump is expecting 3 percent growth anymore

Donald Trump built his presidential campaign in part around a promise to jump up U.S. economic growth to 3.5 percent a year or even 4 percent, a big improvement over the 2 percent average of the previous decade.

Since taking office, however, Trump has struggled to come close even to 3 percent. This week, his Council of Economic Advisors essentially has admitted that long-term growth meeting Trump's promise is not going to happen. The acknowledgment comes in the 2019 Economic Report of the President, released Tuesday.

Under current conditions, the report says, inflation-adjusted gross