President Donald Trump blamed his predecessor Joe Biden on April 29 after a new report from the Commerce Department showed that US gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.3% in the first quarter of the year.
This is the first negative growth quarter since the first quarter of 2022, raising concerns about the possibility of an economic recession in the context of negative reactions from financial markets and businesses.
In a post on the social network Truth Social, Mr. Trump affirmed: "This is Biden's stock market, not Trump's. I only took office on January 20".
He also stressed that economic growth will take time and is not related to the tariff policies he recently issued. Growth will come, but we must remove the burden left by Biden. Be patient!, Trump wrote.
However, according to the Commerce Department, the GDP decline was largely due to a wave of imported goods before Trump's new tariffs took effect, along with a decline in government spending due to defense budget cuts.
The personal consumption price index - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure - also increased sharply to 3.6% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to an increase of 2.4% in the previous quarter.
Disappointing US economic data continued to be reinforced by a report from the ADP released on the same day, showing that private sector employment increased by only 62,000 in April, much lower than the forecast of 120,000. This is the lowest job growth rate since July 2024 and a sharp decrease compared to the previous month's 147,000 that was adjusted down.
These figures put more pressure on Mr. Trump right before the meeting with more than 20 business leaders at the White House during the day. Blaming his predecessors is considered counterproductive, as Mr. Trump himself had previously claimed to have contributed to the growth of the stock market during his time as a presidential candidate. On January 29, 2024, he wrote on Truth Social: "This is Trump's stock market because polls show I will beat Biden."
In contrast, Andrew Bates, a former White House spokesman under Biden, has denied Trump's statement, saying Biden has left behind "the world's best growing economy" and warned "we are now falling into a recession under Trump".
Although President Trump affirmed in a speech on April 28 that prices were falling sharply and that was his achievement, official indicators showed a completely opposite picture.
