[By Guancha Observer Wang Yi] Various signs of the U.S. economy heading in a bad direction, such as the stock market and GDP (Gross Domestic Product), are making voters increasingly dissatisfied with President Trump's handling of the economy. In response to all accusations, Trump's attitude is that the "good parts" of the economy should be credited to him, while the "bad parts" are all due to former President Biden.

In an interview aired on NBC's "Meet the Media" program on May 4th local time, host Kristen Welker asked Trump, "When will it be the 'Trump Economy'?"

"I think the good part is the 'Trump Economy,' and the bad part is the 'Biden Economy,'" Trump responded after letting out a "hiss," "because he has done a terrible job, he has messed up everything, from his auto pens—I'm sure he knows nothing about them—and some things he should have signed."

On May 4th local time, Trump was interviewed by NBC's "Meet the Media" program. Video screenshot.

Politico reported on April 4th that Trump did not specify how he differentiates between the "Trump Economy" and the "Biden Economy," but since taking office for 100 days, he has been working to disrupt the global economic and trade landscape, imposing high tariffs on countries including allies and attempting to relocate manufacturing back to the U.S.

Trump eventually postponed the implementation of "reciprocal tariffs" for 90 days on certain countries, but consumer confidence had already dropped significantly, and the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter of 2025, sharply contrasting with the 2.4% quarter-on-quarter growth in the last quarter of 2024.

On the day the GDP data was released, Trump wrote on his self-created social media platform, "Truth Social," saying, "This is Biden's stock market, not Trump's, I didn't take over until January 20th," "Our country will prosper, but we must rid ourselves of Biden's 'negative influence.' It will take some time, this has nothing to do with tariffs, it's just that he left us with bad data. But when prosperity begins, it will be unprecedented. Be patient!!!"

Politico noted that despite Trump's insistence that his policies will work in the long term, Americans don't rate him highly. A poll released last week by CNN showed that Trump's approval rating on economic issues was only 39%.

Host Welker repeatedly questioned Trump about the turbulent stock market, and eventually Trump admitted under her sharp questioning, "In the end, I will take responsibility for everything."

"I've been here for just over three months. But look at the stock market, look at what has happened recently. Hasn't it been rising for nine, ten, even eleven consecutive days? And the tariffs have just begun. We're doing well," Trump immediately defended himself, "I mean, psychologically, fake news has been instilling negative information about tariffs into me. Tariffs will make us wealthy. We'll become a very prosperous nation."

CNN, which is enthusiastic about debunking Trump's claims, pointed out that from January 21st (Trump's first trading day in office) to May 2nd, the S&P 500 index fell by 6%.

After announcing comprehensive tariffs in early April, facing the decline in the stock market, Trump has been reassuring the market by saying, "I don't want any declines, but sometimes you have to take medicine to solve problems." However, CNN noted that he provided almost no guarantees to Americans and business owners about the short-term and long-term impacts of his economic policies.

When asked by Welker whether he would consider permanently canceling some tariffs, Trump insisted, "No, I won't do that. Because if people think they can give up, why would they build factories in the U.S.?"

Although Trump constantly emphasizes that "everything is fine," he also did not rule out the possibility of an economic recession, stating, "Anything can happen."

He reiterated last week's remarks about American children sacrificing for the country, saying, "I think a pretty little girl—she's only 11 years old—doesn't need 30 dolls," "I'm just saying, kids don't need 30 dolls; they only need 3. They don't need 250 pencils; they only need 5."

In the comments section of the interview video, netizens expressed disbelief at Trump's words. "I don't understand how people could take this person seriously?!? Do his supporters really believe this makes sense?!?!"

Two other netizens sarcastically commented, "Trump is completely insane" "What if it's all bad parts."

Social Media

When does a U.S. president need to start being held accountable for the economy during their four-year term? Mark Zachary Taylor, a researcher at Georgia Tech who studies presidential economic policies, told the Associated Press that it usually takes six months to two years to accurately attribute economic performance to a new president, but for those who come into office with ambitions to reshape the U.S. economy, the threshold is different.

Taylor analyzed that the bolder the actions taken by a new president and the stronger the support from Congress, the faster the economy becomes "theirs." Taylor stated that Trump's trade war was one of the causes of the stock market crash and the devaluation of the dollar, and the GDP contraction in the first quarter of 2025 "fully aligns with the expectations of millions of American businesses and households in response to the impending tariff increases."

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under the Clinton administration at Columbia University, believes, "Some of what we see now is purely related to Trump," "No one looking at the current state of the economy would fail to acknowledge the impact of the intermittent tariff policies."

This article is an exclusive contribution from the Guancha Observer and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7500784177101423113/

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