National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Tuesday that the White House was “optimistic” about trade talks with China, and that the U.S. was “closer than we’ve ever been before” to a significant trade deal.

“Meetings two weeks ago went very, very well. Better than we thought,” Larry Kudlow said on “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

Tuesday stocks dipped as investors weighed the ongoing trade negotiations.

Kudlow says there was hope that President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would finalize a deal later this month.

“I will say there’s hope … by the end of this month or early April the two leaders will get together and finalize an agreement,” Kudlow said. “Don’t hold me to that because it’s not written in cement yet. But we must hear back from them.”

Kudlow also responded to critics saying that the president’s approach to trade talks with China and threatening to impose tariffs have cost the U.S.

“I don’t think so,” Kudlow told Baier. “We’ve looked at the evidence, both sides, our tariffs, their tariffs. [An] almost uncountable fraction of the GDP to be perfectly candid.”

“I think China has been hurt more than we have,” Kudlow added.

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Kudlow touted the impact Trump has had on the economy.

The president’s adviser also weighed in on the call from Democratic presidential candidates for higher taxes on the wealthy, and their economic vision.

“I’m putting socialism on trial and I’m going to convict it as well,” Kudlow told Baier. “We have the most progressive tax code of any of the large industrial countries around the world.”

“The Democrats are playing the recession card, the rest of the country is in prosperity,” Kudlow said.

Baier also pressed Kudlow on the growing national debt, which stands at $22 trillion.

“We are making an investment in America’s future. It’s already beginning to pay off and if that means we incur some additional debt in the short run so be it,” Kudlow responded to Baier.

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“The whole program here is to unleash America’s potential, be creative, use your God-given talent,” Kudlow told Baier. “I don’t want government control of the economy. I don’t want collectivism.”

He added: “We’re entrepreneurs, we are risk takers, we are workers and we are owners. That will solve all of these problems and people will be very prosperous.”

Fox News' Bret Baier contributed to this report.