President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that his administration will not cut taxes to turn aside an economic slowdown — only a day after he said he would consider tax policy changes.

It follows several days of mixed messaging from the White House on whether it would respond to growing concerns about a potential recession. Trump has spent the week arguing the U.S. has the strongest economy in the world — while urging the Federal Reserve to chop interest rates, a step typically taken during cycles of economic weakness.

A White House official first denied a report Monday that the administration would consider a payroll tax reduction. By Tuesday, Trump said he was "thinking about" cutting the levies — though he stressed that "whether or not we do something now, it's not being done because of a recession."

But the president backtracked on Wednesday, tamping down talk about either trimming payroll taxes or indexing capital gains to inflation. Trump's comments continue the president and his administration's struggle to clarify whether and how it would change U.S. tax policy in the face of recession fears.

"I'm not looking at a tax cut now. We don't need it. We have a strong economy," the president told reporters on the White House lawn when asked if he would consider a payroll tax cut.