Donald Trump news: US President blames Joe Biden for the economy shrinking for first time in three years
US President Donald Trump has blamed former President Joe Biden for the economy shrinking for the first time in three years.
Fresh data on Wednesday (local time) showed the gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at a 0.3 per cent annualised rate last quarter.
America’s economy grew at a 2.4 per cent pace in the fourth quarter.
The data comes as Mr Trump’s tariffs continue to bring confusion and chaos to global markets, with uncertainty remaining over deals and the long term economic playing field.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting to mark his first 100 days back in office, Mr Trump said: “You probably some numbers today. That’s Biden, that’s not Trump.”
“We (the Trump Administration” came in on January, these are quarterly numbers,
“We came in, I was very against everything that Biden was doing in terms of the economy, destroying out country is so many ways.
“We took over his mess.”
Mr Trump said his administration was “turning it around.”
“It’s a big ship to turn around, and we’re going to have the greatest country, financially, in the history of the world, I believe,” he said.
“We reset the table… We were losing four to five — to even six billion dollars a day on trade with Biden.”
Democrat Congressman Ritchie Torres on New York said Mr Trump was “Making Recessions Great Again.”
The report likely grossly exaggerated the economy’s dimming prospects as consumer spending continued to grow, though at a moderate pace.
Federal government spending plunged 5.1 per cent but business investment rose at a 21.9 per cent as companies poured money into equipment.
Coinciding with Mr Trump’s first 100 days in office, it nonetheless reinforced Americans’ growing disapproval of his handling of the economy so far. Mr Trump swept to victory last November on voter angst over the economy, especially inflation.
Consumer confidence is near five-year lows and business sentiment has tanked. Airlines have pulled their 2025 financial forecasts, citing uncertainty over spending on non-essential travel because of tariffs, which economists have warned will raise costs for companies and households.
Given that an unusually large amount of non-monetary gold had accounted for some of the jump in imports, some economists warned against placing too much weight on the GDP number. Others argued that the data did not change the narrative of an economy struggling because of uncertainty due to tariffs.
Inflation picked up last quarter and is expected to rise further through the year. Economists expect the Federal Reserve to resume cutting interest rates at some point this year.
Mr Trump on Tuesday softened the blow of his auto tariffs through an executive order mixing credits with relief from other levies on parts and materials.
A 145 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, which unleashed a trade war between Washington and Beijing, remains in place, as does an array of other import duties.
Mr Trump sees tariffs as a tool to raise revenue to offset his promised tax cuts and to revive a long-declining US industrial base.
– with Reuters
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