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Top White House official sounds more optimistic about NAFTA

President Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, sounds more optimistic about NAFTA this week than he did a week ago.

“Ambassador (Robert) Lighthizer is working—we’re all working—there’s a lot of communication back and forth–perhaps more work coming this week,” Kudlow says. “I don’t think the Congressional timetable is quite as strict as Speaker Paul Ryan might have mentioned.”

Just last week, Kudlow said he was skeptical about successfully renegotiating NAFTA. But in an interview Monday with CNBC, he was more upbeat about the chances.

“Many of the items in the that treaty have already been successfully renegotiated. Some of the items remain unfinished,” he says. “So we’re running through a continued, very serious process to get it done.”

Kudlow says there is a willingness among all three countries to get a deal done. But he says it needs to be a good deal for the U.S.