Trump Blames GDP Contraction On Biden 'Overhang': 'Nothing To Do With The Tariffs'

President Donald Trump deflects blame for the U.S. economy's 0.3% contraction in the first quarter onto his predecessor, despite clear evidence indicating otherwise.

What Happened: On Wednesday, Trump posted on Truth Social, blaming former President Joe Biden for the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracting by 0.3% during the first quarter. This marks the first GDP contraction for the country in three years.

Trump, who assumed office on Jan. 20, 2025, claimed in the post that “This is Biden's stock market, not Trump's,” and insisted the contraction “has nothing to do with the tariffs.”

Screenshot from Donald Trump’s Truth Social Account

He further predicts a boom once tariffs take effect, saying they would drive companies to relocate to the U.S. in record numbers, but argued the economy must first shake off the Biden-era “overhang.”

That claim, however, contradicts data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which attributes the first-quarter GDP decline largely to a 41.3% surge in imports. This occurred even as consumer spending slowed to 1.8% growth, down from 4% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

This clearly points towards a pre-tariff import surge, with Robin Brooks of the Brookings Institution saying that the ballooning imports and swelling inventories reflect a widespread effort to front-run the tariffs.

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Why It Matters: Several products and commodities have seen imports surge in recent weeks, such as in the case of copper last month, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) seeing massive stockpiling ahead of the tariffs.

Others, such as investor Mark Cuban, have repeatedly urged Americans to stock up on essentials, warning that even the prices of American-made goods will soon begin to rise.

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