WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, President Trump addressed the Commerce Department report that shows the economy shrank .3 percent from January to the end of March.
Speaking to the press in an open Cabinet meeting, he put the blame on former President Biden. “You probably saw some numbers today,” said Trump. “And I have to start off by saying that’s Biden. That’s not Trump.”
The president is asking Americans to be patient. He says tariffs are not responsible for the downturn, and he’s in no rush to make deals with China and other countries.
“I’m in less of a hurry than you are,” Trump said Wednesday night in a town hall on NewsNation. “We are sitting on the catbird seat. They want us. We don’t need them.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that countries are lining up to negotiate new trade deals.
“We’re putting together this plan and execute it day by day and week by week and it doesn’t all happen at once,” Bessent explained. “In the first 100 days we’re setting the table for the successes we’re going to see in the next hundred.”
Some blame the economic downturn on companies’ stockpiling inventory, even before the tariffs went into effect.
“Businesses themselves have announced they are uncertain about how much they will be able to sell in the future,” Chief Economist at Numerator Leo Feler told ABC News.
Now, there are concerns the 145 percent tariffs on China could dry up shipping, and there are signs that’s already happening. Cargo ships into L.A., for example, have dropped 36 percent from this time last year.
And big box stores are warning that shelves could soon look emptier.
With 80 percent of toys sold in the U.S. made in China, Trump acknowledged families could see fewer gifts under the Christmas tree. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know?” he said in the Wednesday cabinet meeting.
On the Ukraine front, President Trump and President Zelenskyy signed a rare earth minerals deal Wednesday evening. The deal affirms a “long-term strategic alignment” between the two countries, and the Trump administration says it signals to Russia Trump’s commitment to the peace process.
