Trump says he deserves a ‘pass’ as data shows GDP contracted

US President Donald Trump. (File photo/AP)

President Donald Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for weak economic data that sent stocks tumbling, arguing government data showing increased domestic investment signaled his tariffs are working.

“I have to start off by saying, that’s Biden. That’s not Trump,” Trump said Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting.

Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product decreased an annualized 0.3% in the first quarter, well below average growth of about 3%, according to initial government data published Wednesday.

“Let’s give us a pass on the first month, we were sort of getting a little bit used to things,” Trump added.

The decrease was led by companies pushing to stockpile imported merchandise ahead of implementation of Trump’s tariffs, with net exports subtracting nearly 5 percentage points from GDP. Cuts to federal funding also impacted the figure.

White House officials have pointed to promising data within the report – including advancing consumer spending and surging business equipment purchases – to argue the economy remains strong.

“It takes a little while to get those facilities built, but they’re coming in with big big numbers,” Trump said.

Andrew Bates, a former White House spokesman under Biden, rejected the notion the contraction was the former president’s fault.

“When Joe Biden handed Donald Trump the best-performing economy in the world, experts praised the U.S. for leaving every other wealthy nation ‘in the dust.’ Now we’re plummeting toward a Trumpcession. Joe Biden publicly warned Trump against raising the prices he promised to lower with tariffs, which are now the biggest middle class tax increase in modern history,” Bates said in a statement.

Trump said he saw encouraging signs his tariffs were starting to have an impact, even while maintaining they “haven’t kicked in yet.” Trump paused higher duties on dozens of trading partners except China, which he hit with a 145% levy. A flat 10% remains in place for almost all other trading partners for a 90-day period, which several nations are using to negotiate deals with the US.

Investors have worried that Trump will be unable to broker a deal with Beijing amid the standoff and that sky-high duties will cause a supply shock. Trump waved off concerns about empty store shelves, saying China “made a trillion dollars” off the US “selling us stuff, much of it we don’t need.”

“Somebody said, ‘oh, the shelves, is it going to be open?’ Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” Trump said.

The president argued a recent decrease in cargo flows was an indication Beijing would soon need to engage with him.

“At a certain point, I hope we’re going to make a deal with China,” Trump said, adding that he was “not happy” with the sharp decline in trade between the two nations because he wants “China to do well” while treating the US fairly.

Trump later Wednesday expressed confidence he would eventually speak with Xi Jinping, despite the Chinese leader’s reluctance to speak directly with his counterpart. “It’ll happen,” Trump said.

Still, downbeat numbers from ADP Research showing that hiring had moderated in April and broader concerns that the tariffs could lead to goods shortages and inflation drove stocks to a broad selloff on Wednesday.

In a social media post earlier in the day, Trump urged investors to remain patient and blamed Biden for market woes, while denying his tariff regime played a role.

“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,” Trump wrote.

The benchmark S&P 500 Index rose under Biden’s watch, but is down about 7% since Trump’s inauguration.

Later at the Cabinet meeting, Trump said he was also disinclined to take credit for second quarter GDP, arguing it would take time for his policies to have an impact.

“This is Biden, and you can even say the next quarter is sort of Biden because it doesn’t just happen on a daily or hourly basis, but we’re turning it around,” Trump said. “It’s a big shift.”

The president also said he did not see the stock market as “the end-all” of gauging the US economy.

“It’s an indicator,” Trump said. “What the stock market really tells you when you when you look at the stock market, in this case, is it says how bad a situation we inherited.”