CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Liesman said Thursday that Donald Trump‘s excuse for his tariff-induced economic chaos has caused “a lot of laughter around Wall Street.”
On MSNBC‘s Deadline: White House, Liesman described investors’ reaction to Trump’s refusal to accept responsibility for the recent stock market volatility—and blaming his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“Well, he tried yesterday to blame the stock market on Biden, and I think there was a lot of laughter around Wall Street I think on that one,” Liesman said. “I think that people pretty squarely put this on the shoulders of President Trump.”
Members of the Trump administration all got the memo to blame Biden on Wednesday, when a report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis found that the gross domestic product had contracted by 0.3 percent last quarter.
“You probably saw some numbers today,” Trump said at the Cabinet meeting that afternoon, “and I have to start off by saying that’s Biden.”
Vice President JD Vance made the same argument in a Fox News interview Thursday night.
“This is Joe Biden’s economy,” he said in response to anchor Bret Baier noting the first quarterly GDP slip in three years.
Trump, of course, has long tried to have it both ways regarding positive and negative economic indicators.
In January 2024—three years removed from office—he gloated about “the Trump stock market” reaching a record high. His rationale then was that the release of favorable poll results against Biden led to investors predicting a GOP win.
Liesman, who called Trump’s tariff policies “insane” due to the “made-up numbers” used by the administration in its calculations, also warned of an impending blow to suppliers.
“This supply shock is not easily handled through the normal tools that we handle downturns in, which is that you end up trying to get people to buy more,” he said. “But if the problem is that there’s not enough stuff and people are losing their jobs because of that, goosing demand is not going to help.”
“And there’s a second element to this that is more worrisome to me, which is that the normal circuit breaker on this tends to be government spending,” Liesman continued. “And what’s happening with government spending, that’s coming down. At the same time, you have the supply shock. So, we could be in for a twofer here over time.”
The post CNBC Star: Wall Street Bankers Are Laughing at Trump’s Economic Excuses appeared first on The Daily Beast.
