'That's Biden', not tariffs: Trump on why US economy shrank for first time in 3 years

US President Donald Trump defended his tariffs and blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, shortly after data suggested the  American economy shrank 0.3 per cent in the first quarter. On Wednesday, Trump went into damage control mode after the economic forecast cast a harsh light on his first 100 days in the White House.

He went on to bash the Federal Reserve, expressed anger towards what he called “unfair trade policies,” and blamed the Democrats for the economic hit in the first quarter. “You probably saw some numbers today,” he said at the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “And I have to start by saying, that’s Biden; that’s not Trump.”

It was an echo of the TruthSocial post he made hours before the meeting. “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,” the president said in the post.

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“Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden “Overhang.” This will take a while and 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!!!” he added. “I’m not taking credit or discredit for the stock market,” he said when questioned about only taking credit for the good news and playing the blame game if things go downhill. “I’m just saying that we inherited a mess," he furthered.

‘BE PATIENT’: Trump’s new mantra

He urged Americans to “be patient” while writing those words in all caps. During the cabinet meeting, Trump suggested that American consumers would have to adapt to his sweeping tariff policy. “Somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open,’” he said. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”

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On Wednesday morning, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released a new report which showed that the country’s economy shrank in the first three months of 2025. The contraction not only reflected the effect of Trump’s policies on the American economy but also made a stark reversal after three years of robust growth.

“We have a lot of things going,” Trump said during the Cabinet meeting. “These are quarterly reports. We took over on January 20th. The tariffs haven’t kicked in yet," the president exclaimed. However, the bureau maintained that the figures are in part based on the threat of the tariffs, and economists worry that they could get worse once the new duties are in place.

‘This is not Joe Biden’s economy’: Democrats

Meanwhile, the US financial markets also took a hit on Wednesday morning after the forecast was released. While Trump blamed Biden, Democrats rallied in support of the former president, sharing one consistent message.

“This is not Joe Biden’s economy, Donald,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “It is your economy. It is the Trump economy.” Meanwhile, the US Senate rejected a resolution that demanded the scrapping of tariffs imposed by Trump during the “Liberation Day”.

The vote was 49-49. Three Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Rand Paul (Kentucky) — voted with Democrats for the measure. However, Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), both of whom backed a similar resolution this month to undo Trump’s tariffs on Canada, did not vote.

Paul argued that Republican senators who privately disliked Trump would soon start to speak out if the economy continued to weaken. “I think if we went through another quarter of negative growth and/or another scare in the marketplace, I think there will be more visible voices against the tariffs,” Paul told reporters. As Trump completes 100 days in office, the latest figures beg the question of whether the POTUS’ economic policies are robust.