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Topline
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump attributed the recent decline in U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) to former President Joe Biden, suggesting that the economic downturn in the second quarter may similarly reflect Biden’s influence, despite Trump having previously claimed credit for stock market upswings during 2024.
Key Facts
During a televised Cabinet meeting, Trump stated that the GDP’s 0.3% drop in the first quarter of 2025 is attributable to “Biden, not Trump,” asserting that these figures should not reflect on his administration, which began in January.
He went on to say, “you could even say the next quarter is sort of Biden.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump remarked that “This is Biden’s stock market,” arguing that the former president “left us with bad numbers,” while he anticipates that the positive outcomes of his tariff policies, which currently raise recession concerns, will soon become apparent as companies increasingly relocate to the U.S.
These statements contradict Trump’s earlier ones from January, when he declared, “THIS IS THE TRUMP STOCK MARKET” and took credit for market gains during Biden’s tenure.
Trump claimed that strong stock market performance is a result of investors anticipating his potential return to the presidency.
Additionally, he previously took credit for market surges leading up to his inauguration, declaring at a rally, “It’s too braggadocious, but we’ll say it anyway, the Trump effect. It’s you. You’re the effect.”
News Peg
The 0.3% decline in GDP during the first quarter marks the weakest economic performance in the U.S. since early 2022. Notably, recent negative GDP growth has occurred only three times in the last decade, with two instances occurring in 2020 as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on global markets.
Key Background
As the Trump administration has implemented tariffs and reduced government spending, the economy has encountered challenges in recent months. Despite this, Trump continues to assert that time is needed for the benefits of his policies to materialize. In a joint address to Congress, he remarked on the anticipated disruptions caused by tariffs but expressed confidence that they wouldn’t be significant. As market fluctuations persisted into March, Trump blamed poor stock performances on “the really bad four years that we had.” By April, analysts offered mixed forecasts regarding a possible recession, with Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, suggesting a 90% chance that the U.S. might face a “Voluntary Trade Reset Recession.”
Further Reading
Trump Offers Automakers Tariff Reprieve—Latest Big Tariff Flip-Flop Since ‘Liberation Day’ (Forbes)
Key Inflation Measure Slowed To Multiyear Low In March—But Tariff Bump On The Horizon (Forbes)
U.S. Economy Shrank During 2025’s First Quarter As GDP Slipped 0.3% (Forbes)
Source
www.forbes.com