President Trump on Wednesday shifted blame for recent stock market declines onto his predecessor, even as economists point to the turbulence sparked by his own aggressive tariff strategy rolled out earlier this month.
Trump denied that the market’s dip was connected to the sweeping tariffs he imposed on nearly every major U.S. trading partner. Instead, he claimed lingering effects from the prior administration were to blame.
“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. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang,’” he posted on Truth Social.
He went on to add, “This will take a while, 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!!!”
Trump won the 2024 election by promising to fix the economy “on day one,” a pledge he now claims was meant as a joke. “People knew I was being lighthearted,” he said recently, brushing off criticism that his early days back in office haven’t delivered the instant results he once promised.
During Biden’s final months in office, the economy had shown signs of recovery following years of post-pandemic inflation, a sluggish housing market, and elevated interest rates. Still, those improvements weren’t enough to secure Democratic victories in the last election.
Trump capitalized on that discontent by vowing to bring costs down and revitalize manufacturing claims that resonated with voters in key battleground states. But since taking office, his aggressive tariff policies have rattled global markets and stoked fears of an economic slowdown.
Despite the uncertainty, Trump and White House officials maintain that these short-term shocks are necessary and that the tariffs will eventually fuel a domestic economic boom. For now, however, the markets remain volatile and investors are unconvinced.