Will Biden also be blamed next time? Poor economic data triggers a storm of accusations, with Trump shifting blame.

In the first quarter of 2025, the United States GDP experienced an annualized decrease of 0.3%, marking the first negative growth since 2022, causing high attention from Washington political circles and financial markets. Current President Trump quickly blamed former President Biden for this economic "report card" during a White House cabinet meeting on Wednesday, implying that if the upcoming second quarter data is poor, it will also be "laid at Biden's feet." "This is caused by Biden," Trump said at the White House cabinet meeting. He pointed out that the trend of the economy does not change dramatically every day or every hour, so "you could even say that the next quarter is also part of Biden's legacy." Trump emphasized that he did not officially take office until January 20, so the data for this quarter reflects the situation he "inherited." "What we are seeing in the GDP performance reveals how bad it was when we took over," he said. "The performance of the stock market is a testament to the problems we inherited." Hours before the cabinet meeting, Trump had already responded through the social platform Truth Social, stating, "This is Biden's stock market, not Trump's. I only took over on January 20th." He also wrote, "Tariffs are about to take effect, companies are pouring into the United States at a rate never seen before. Our country is about to enter a period of prosperity, but we must clear the 'shadow' left by Biden." "This takes time, it has nothing to do with tariffs, it's because he left behind bad economic data," Trump continued. "But once prosperity begins, it will be unprecedented. Be patient!!!" However, Trump's attribution of the economic downturn to the Biden administration is clearly misleading. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, one of the main reasons for the GDP decline was that businesses imported a large amount of goods ahead of Trump's anticipated implementation of tariffs, leading to a trade deficit dragging down overall economic growth. Meanwhile, government spending decreases also weighed on GDP, especially significant cuts in defense spending. The employment report released by ADP during the same period also did not bring good news. Data showed that the private sector in the United States added only 62,000 jobs in April, well below market expectations of 120,000, marking the smallest increase since July 2024. The data for March was also revised down to 147,000. With the sluggish economic data and some listed companies reporting lower-than-expected earnings, the stock market opened sharply lower on Wednesday, although it later recovered some lost ground, market sentiment remained fragile. These circumstances are bound to affect the closed-door meeting Trump held with over twenty business leaders at the White House later that day. At the same time, Trump's "double standard" on economic issues has also been questioned. In his speech on the celebration of his second term's first 100 days this Tuesday evening, Trump boasted that "prices are falling sharply" and attributed this achievement to himself. However, the latest GDP report shows that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index favored by the Federal Reserve rose by 3.6% in the first quarter, a significant increase from the 2.4% in the previous quarter, indicating that inflationary pressures still exist. Experts point out that the slowing job growth and declining consumer confidence are more due to market uncertainties and concerns about Trump's tariff policy. Companies and investors remain cautious in the uncertain policy environment, dragging down economic activity.