Donald Trump blames Joe Biden for the US GDP contraction.

WASHINGTON.- On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden , for the economic contraction in the first quarter of the year and denied that his aggressive tariff policy had anything to do with it.

"It has nothing to do with tariffs, it's just that (Biden) left us with bad numbers, but when the boom starts, it will be like no other. Be patient!!!" Trump declared on his Truth Social platform.

According to data released Wednesday, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the world's largest economy contracted by 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, the first negative figure since 2022.

The Republican president, who took office on January 20, declared that these are "Biden's markets, not Trump's."

He also promised that tariffs "will soon take effect, and businesses will begin to locate in the United States in record numbers."

"Our country will prosper, but we have to get rid of the 'negative effect' of Biden," he noted.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the contraction in the first quarter of the year is due to increased imports, which are subtracted from the GDP calculation, and a reduction in government spending.

Get details about how the US economy performed in the first quarter of 2025: https://t.co/qHGf5n47pp pic.twitter.com/figOjv6N86

— BEA News (@BEA_News) April 30, 2025

This is the first contraction in three years and coincides with Trump's assumption of power, which launched a process of global tariff increases, cuts in federal spending, and announcements of tax cuts.

Analysts initially expected a 0.4% rise, but later predicted a negative figure due to the uncertainty created by Trump's trade war , which has seen him announce and pause tariffs on several occasions.

The 0.3% drop in GDP in the first quarter contrasts with the 2.4% increase estimated for the last quarter of 2024, under Biden.

BREAKING: In an insane moment, Donald Trump addresses his cabinet and blatantly denies reality, attempting to blame his own abysmal core GDP growth on President Biden. Everyone in that room knows he's lying. What an embarrassment. pic.twitter.com/EReCbA8GOb

— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) April 30, 2025

This Wednesday, in a meeting with his cabinet, marking the first 100 days of his second term, Trump claimed the country has received more than $8 trillion in investments and once again distanced himself from the poor GDP figures.

"It's not Trump, because we arrived in January, with only quarterly figures, and I was very much against everything Biden was doing in terms of the economy," he said.

For his part, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that U.S. economic security “has never been better.”

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