President Trump’s top economic adviser last week arranged an Oval Office briefing with outside experts who warned the president that continued escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions could imperil the economy and hurt Mr. Trump’s chances for re-election, according to people familiar with the meeting.

The Oct. 8 briefing, which came two days before trade talks between senior U.S. and Chinese officials, was arranged by Larry Kudlow, the director of the White House National Economic Council. The meeting included Stephen Moore, an economic commentator and a former candidate for the Federal Reserve Board, and Republican economist Lawrence Lindsey, the people said.

“There was a general consensus that the economy was really strong, the best economy we’ve had in 30 years, and that what’s going to get him re-elected is the economy,” said Mr. Moore, who advised Mr. Trump during his 2016 campaign.

But “we all agreed that the uncertainty about the trade situation with China is a negative,” Mr. Moore said.

Mr. Trump countered that the Federal Reserve shared blame for any signs of a downturn, and should be doing more to stimulate growth. Midway through the meeting, he called in one of his closest China advisers, Peter Navarro, a trade hawk who believes the U.S. has been far too accommodative with China.