U.S. President Donald Trump gestures, after returning from attending a rally at Macomb Community College to mark his 100th day in office, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump attributed on Wednesday the stock market's underperformance in the first 100 days of his presidency to former President Joe Biden.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump defended his economic approach and called on Americans to "be patient," even as reports indicated that the U.S. economy shrank in the year's first quarter.
"This is Biden's Stock Market, not Trump's. I didn't take over until January 20th," he wrote. "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.'"
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In January, the president had referred to the stock market as "Trump's stock market."
“THIS IS THE TRUMP STOCK MARKET BECAUSE MY POLLS AGAINST BIDEN ARE SO GOOD THAT INVESTORS ARE PROJECTING THAT I WILL WIN, AND THAT WILL DRIVE THE MARKET UP — EVERYTHING ELSE IS TERRIBLE (WATCH THE MIDDLE EAST!), AND RECORD SETTING INFLATION HAS ALREADY TAKEN ITS TOLL. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," he wrote on Truth Social in January.
Trump's latest statement was strongly criticized on social media and some commentators termed it a case of deflection and blame-shifting.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) wrote on the social platform X, "100 days ago Trump declared 'our golden age has just begun.' His inaugural speech began with the line 'From this day forward, our country will flourish.' This morning’s economic news is so bad that Trump is now trying to distance himself from the economy. His tariffs did this."
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Political scientist and author Ian Bremmer wrote: "It was the Trump stock market before, because it was going up. Now it’s the Biden stock market, because it’s going down. This is not difficult to understand."
Reporter Andrew Desiderio noted that similar comments were made by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) “By introducing the tariffs to the extent that he has, this is President Trump's economy now. I don’t think it’s believable for anyone to say that President Biden or any former administration caused what’s happening. And we don’t know yet what’s happening," the senator had reportedly said.
Political strategist Sarah Longwell posted: "Trump when the market is up: 'This is the Trump stock market' Trump when the market goes down: 'This is the Biden stock market.'"
Author Jennifer Erin Valent said, "We've got eyes and brains. We can see and think for ourselves. And this man believes he can just convince us all of his alternate reality. That may work in his cult. The rest of us, not so much. Stand up and speak out, America."
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