President Donald Trump says the economy’s myriad struggles aren’t his fault — as markets continue to fall, a trade war swirls, and more and more people expect a recession. Instead, he says, the American public should blame former President Joe Biden.
Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, on Wedesday: “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers.
“Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”
In 2024, however, Trump claimed that “This is the Trump Stock Market” in a Truth Social post “because my polls against Biden are so good.”
The president’s post came less than an hour after the Commerce Department released data that showed that the U.S. economy shrank for the first time since 2022 (at a 0.3% annualized pace in the first quarter) amid worries about the president’s tariffs. Markets fell sharply at the open after the report.
Since the president’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, it seems like no stock has seen a simple week. Trump’s levies are wreaking havoc on markets and global stability as companies pull back earnings estimates and forecasts because the president’s policies change on a whim. And Trump’s first 100 days in office had the worst market stability since the 1970s — the Dow Jones Industrial Index fell 6.8%, the S&P 500 fell 7.3%, and the Nasdaq fell 11%.
Top banks and economists are upping their predictions that a recession is coming, with prediction markets now pointing to a strong belief (a 74% chance) of a recession this year. Meanwhile, consumer confidence is at its lowest level since 2020 and economists are warning of empty shelves.
Biden isn’t the only one who Trump wants to blame for the economy — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has taken plenty of heat from the president, too. Trump has suggested he wants to fire Powell (he can’t), only to walk back those claims but continue attacking the central bank chief for his inflation policies.
“Inflation is basically down and interest rates came down despite the fact that I have a Fed person who’s not really doing a good job,” Trump said at a rally Tuesday in Michigan to celebrate his first 100 days in office. “You’re not supposed to criticize the Fed. You’re supposed to let him do his own thing — but I know much more than he does about interest rates.”
The president also boasted Tuesday that “prices are coming way down” under his administration.
“That’s what I’ve done,” he said.
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