Zürcher Nachrichten - Trump blames Biden's record after US economy shrinks

EUR -
AED 4.244928
AFN 81.485785
ALL 98.662904
AMD 443.576589
ANG 2.06857
AOA 1059.932354
ARS 1366.573702
AUD 1.768412
AWG 2.083454
AZN 1.964821
BAM 1.952058
BBD 2.332708
BDT 141.304017
BGN 1.955852
BHD 0.435958
BIF 3400.567349
BMD 1.155869
BND 1.479177
BOB 8.000732
BRL 6.348727
BSD 1.155275
BTN 99.356398
BWP 15.425563
BYN 3.780919
BYR 22655.037404
BZD 2.320671
CAD 1.568197
CDF 3325.435533
CHF 0.9396
CLF 0.028202
CLP 1082.314678
CNY 8.298852
CNH 8.306626
COP 4739.641881
CRC 582.37857
CUC 1.155869
CUP 30.630535
CVE 110.529999
CZK 24.801518
DJF 205.421594
DKK 7.458385
DOP 68.484699
DZD 150.491806
EGP 58.082059
ERN 17.338039
ETB 155.242365
FJD 2.589436
FKP 0.850046
GBP 0.852535
GEL 3.149755
GGP 0.850046
GHS 11.876606
GIP 0.850046
GMD 82.641868
GNF 10005.204706
GTQ 8.878903
GYD 241.708747
HKD 9.073226
HNL 30.225936
HRK 7.536498
HTG 151.18887
HUF 402.870177
IDR 18830.150451
ILS 4.049183
IMP 0.850046
INR 99.673497
IQD 1514.188724
IRR 48673.654267
ISK 143.582531
JEP 0.850046
JMD 184.401298
JOD 0.819495
JPY 167.471619
KES 149.280303
KGS 101.080427
KHR 4646.594829
KMF 491.817871
KPW 1040.288268
KRW 1578.483917
KWD 0.3538
KYD 0.962763
KZT 592.459159
LAK 25056.358314
LBP 103565.884911
LKR 347.86016
LRD 230.769196
LSL 20.597679
LTL 3.412982
LVL 0.699174
LYD 6.270548
MAD 10.544421
MDL 19.756299
MGA 5126.280098
MKD 61.534809
MMK 2426.115055
MNT 4140.864031
MOP 9.341474
MRU 45.853624
MUR 52.488243
MVR 17.806183
MWK 2006.588849
MXN 21.898296
MYR 4.905543
MZN 73.918232
NAD 20.598033
NGN 1784.269097
NIO 41.954267
NOK 11.44214
NPR 158.970636
NZD 1.904086
OMR 0.444413
PAB 1.155295
PEN 4.164021
PGK 4.764381
PHP 65.577107
PKR 327.228895
PLN 4.274
PYG 9216.25316
QAR 4.207944
RON 5.023173
RSD 117.227113
RUB 90.61625
RWF 1647.113689
SAR 4.336629
SBD 9.648492
SCR 16.960704
SDG 694.098549
SEK 10.971355
SGD 1.481483
SHP 0.908332
SLE 25.689224
SLL 24238.004584
SOS 660.581104
SRD 44.779507
STD 23924.159894
SVC 10.108971
SYP 15028.492747
SZL 20.598172
THB 37.654175
TJS 11.703718
TMT 4.045542
TND 3.37803
TOP 2.707164
TRY 45.513622
TTD 7.843033
TWD 34.116644
TZS 2991.311042
UAH 48.034882
UGX 4165.015869
USD 1.155869
UYU 47.241076
UZS 14714.215933
VES 118.091759
VND 30142.180505
VUV 138.605241
WST 3.180697
XAF 654.707622
XAG 0.031724
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.123794
XDR 0.8175
XOF 653.065815
XPF 119.331742
YER 280.818382
ZAR 20.595978
ZMK 10404.190789
ZMW 28.016536
ZWL 372.189429
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Trump blames Biden's record after US economy shrinks
Trump blames Biden's record after US economy shrinks / Photo: Patrick T. Fallon - AFP

Trump blames Biden's record after US economy shrinks

President Donald Trump lashed out at his predecessor's economic record Wednesday after US financial markets fell on the news that the American economy unexpectedly contracted in the first three months of the year.

Text size:

The gross domestic product of the world's largest economy decreased at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the first quarter, after growing 2.4 percent in the final months of 2024, according to Wednesday's estimate from the US Commerce Department.

This was sharply below the market consensus estimate of 0.4 percent growth, according to Briefing.com, and marked the first quarterly contraction since 2022.

"The downturn in real GDP in the first quarter reflected an upturn in imports, a deceleration in consumer spending, and a downturn in government spending," the Commerce Department said in a statement.

The surge in imports was driven by businesses and consumers stockpiling foreign goods to get ahead of Trump's sweeping tariffs, which went into effect earlier this month.

"This is Biden's Stock Market, not Trump's," the US president wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. "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," he said. "When the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!"

All three major Wall Street indices fell at the open, with the Nasdaq sliding more than two percent before paring some losses in morning trading.

- 'A blaring warning' -

Speaking to reporters a few minutes after the president's post, Trump's economic advisor Peter Navarro defended the GDP figures.

"This was the best negative print -- as they say in the trade -- for GDP I have ever seen in my life," he said. "It really should be very positive news for America."

The import surge was, he said, "totally driven by the rest of the world trying to get their products in here before the tariffs took full hold."

"That's a one shot deal," he added. "So next time we get the data, that won't be the case at all."

The GDP figures were published on the 101st day since Trump returned to White House on January 20, along with fresh data showing a slowdown in the US Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge last month.

In that time, the president has announced several rounds of tariffs, laying out plans in March to impose sweeping levies on top trading partners from early April in a bid to reset US trade relations.

The introduction of tariffs sparked a selloff in financial markets, sending volatility surging to levels not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic and spooking investors.

"Today's GDP number shows Donald Trump is running America the same way he ran his business -- straight into the ground," Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

"This decline in GDP is a blaring warning to everyone that Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans' failed MAGA experiment is killing our economy," he added.

- 'Greater risk of recession' -

Following the dramatic market movements in early April, the Trump administration announced a 90-day pause to the higher tariffs for dozens of countries to allow for trade talks, while maintaining a baseline 10 percent rate for most countries.

It also announced sector-specific measures on steel, aluminum and automobiles and parts not made in the United States, and new sweeping tariffs totalling 145 percent on China.

Beijing responded with its own steep, targeted measures against US goods.

"The U.S. economy is at a greater risk of recession now than it was a month ago, but this 0.3 percent contraction in Q1 GDP is not the start of one," economists at Wells Fargo wrote in an investor note.

"It reflects instead the sudden change in trade policy that culminated in the biggest drag from net exports in data going back more than a half-century," they said.

S.Scheidegger--NZN