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OK, I got something wrong about President Trump. On the eve of his inauguration, I wrote a column establishing, with data, how fine an economy he was inheriting; one big financial firm declared it the “Roaring ‘20s.” My point was less to counter Trump’s claims that President Biden had destroyed the economy, and more to offer a pre-buttal to what I expected would be Trump’s efforts to steal credit for fixing what wasn’t broken.
Little did I (or just about anyone else) anticipate how quickly Trump would break that inheritance rather than let the good times roll. Certainly his billionaire backers banked that he wouldn’t ignite a global trade war — they were just counting on him to cut their taxes and regulations. Yet even those of us who took candidate Trump at his word about “beautiful” tariffs were stunned when he imposed self-punishing levies on just about every nation in the world and an Antarctic island of penguins.
The Trump administration’s refusal to ‘facilitate’ the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an attack on our most basic expectations of American justice.
So now, instead of taking credit for a good economy Biden handed off, Trump is blaming him for the damage from Trump’s own actions. Stock market slides, diminished 401(k)s, higher prices, negative first-quarter growth, recession warnings — all Biden’s fault, says Trump. “I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
As for the purported “good parts,” a new page on the White House website titled “The Trump Effect” boasts that his policies “have sparked trillions of dollars in new investment in U.S. manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure.” The Washington Post reviewed the promised investments listed on the page and found that they mostly reflected companies’ regular business costs or dated to those bad ol’ Biden days.
In any case, it’s pretty rich to have the president boasting about getting companies to invest more in the United States when his own family’s businesses are on a tear investing in the Middle East and Asia. (Except for Donald Trump Jr.’s interest in a new, invitation-only Washington club; nothing says “populist” like a half-million-dollar-plus private club fee.)
CEOs seek ‘less unpredictability.’ Claims that trade wars generate riches don’t add up. The chaos shouldn’t come as a surprise
On April 30, just after the government report on the economy’s slowdown, Trump posted, “Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ …BE PATIENT!!!” He won’t say how long Americans must wait, but at least past Christmas apparently. The president who’s never wanted for a thing is telling America’s girls to be satisfied with two dolls instead of 30. (His clueless Cabinet members chuckled at that during their recent meeting.)
So, Barbie will be a casualty of Trump’s trade war. Toy Assn. CEO Greg Ahearn told the New York Times that the virtual stoppage of trade with China, which makes most toys (including Barbies), is “putting Christmas at risk.” (Now that’s a war on Christmas.) Trump’s dismissive quip that the dolls that are available might cost “a couple of bucks more” is proof he knows he’s lying when he says Americans don’t pay for tariffs.
His politically tone-deaf take on dolls should stick, right through the 2026 midterm elections in Democrats’ campaign ads. It underscores why he won’t get away with the Biden-blaming: The economic chaos and uncertainty that companies and consumers are enduring are too well identified with Trump and tariffs. His job-approval slump in recent polls attests to that.
President Trump claims ‘everybody is saying’ his second term had the best start in presidential history. No, they’re not.
Even if Trump retreats on tariffs, as he has selectively and mostly temporarily, or comes to trade deals with various countries, he is unlikely to abandon the levies altogether. This week’s out-of-the-blue bombshell for new tariffs on films made outside the United States — “a national security threat,” he insisted — is evidence of that. What’s more, if Trump were to forsake tariffs, with them would go his entire economic rationale — contradictory and implausible as it is — for the “golden age” they are supposed to usher in: with new investments, trade surpluses and revenues so great that the income tax could be repealed.
No matter how often he bashes Biden, Trump will own the economic travails that are likely ahead. Parallel to the tariff follies, he and the Republican majority in Congress (remember Congress?) are now embarked on fiscal follies, turning the annual federal budget-writing process into an exercise in overreach and hubris. They’re trying to write a budget that is crammed with Trump’s entire legislative agenda of tax cuts and slashed spending, even calling it by Trump’s own term: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
As with tariffs, beauty is in the eye of the beholder — and the Republicans’ infighting so far is not a pretty sight.
Divided Republicans in the House delayed committee action this week and Senate Republicans held a retreat on Wednesday to air differences away from the Capitol. They aim to extend Trump’s expiring 2017 tax cuts and to fulfill his 2024 campaign promises to end taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits — for a cost of $9.1 trillion over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation. That’s more than Trump added to the federal debt in his first term, a record.
Republicans’ goal is to offset just $1.5 trillion of the lost tax revenues by cutting spending — more than half from Medicaid — even as they inflate spending for the military and border enforcement. Easy prediction: They’ll fall way short and the debt will explode, again. Markets and voters won’t react well. The president and his party have all the power in Washington. Which means, try as Trump might, there’s no one else to blame when things go awry.
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Ideas expressed in the piece
- The article argues that President Trump inherited a strong economy from the Biden administration, characterized by robust employment growth and stable economic indicators, but his trade policies and fiscal decisions have destabilized it[3]. For instance, Biden’s final year saw 2.8% GDP growth and over 16 million jobs added, with unemployment at 4%[1].
- Trump’s tariffs and trade wars, including levies on Chinese goods, are criticized for raising consumer prices, disrupting supply chains, and jeopardizing seasonal markets like holiday toys, with industry leaders warning of economic fallout[1][3]. The White House’s claims of sparking trillions in new U.S. investments are disputed, as many pledges predate Trump’s policies or reflect routine business costs[1].
- The Republican-led budget plan, which extends Trump’s tax cuts and proposes $9.1 trillion in new tax reductions, is portrayed as fiscally reckless. Critics note it would exacerbate federal debt without credible offsets, mirroring the debt accumulation of Trump’s first term[1][3].
Different views on the topic
- Supporters of Trump’s policies highlight early economic wins, including a 7% drop in gasoline prices, increased auto sales, and $5 trillion in pledged U.S. investments since his inauguration[2]. Regulatory rollbacks are framed as cost-saving measures, with projected savings of $755 billion from EPA and DOT actions alone[2].
- The administration attributes economic challenges to Biden-era “overhang,” arguing that current setbacks are temporary and that patience will yield a “boom” fueled by tariffs and tax reforms. Trump has dismissed criticism of tariff impacts, asserting that any price increases are minimal and outweighed by long-term gains[2][3].
- Proponents defend the GOP budget as a vehicle for economic revitalization, emphasizing tax cuts for workers and businesses alongside military and border spending. They argue that reduced regulations and corporate investments will offset short-term fiscal gaps[2].
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