Donald Trump tells Americans to 'be patient' after US economy shrank 0.3% during first three months of 2025
30 April 2025, 14:05 | Updated: 30 April 2025, 18:01
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Americans should be "patient" in the face of a first quarter economic contraction, arguing that his tariffs would eventually lead to a boom in the U.S. economy.
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The economy shrank in the first quarter, weighed down by a deluge of goods imported by businesses eager to avoid higher costs, underscoring the disruptive nature of the president's often chaotic tariff policy.
Latest figures show the US economy shrank 0.3% during first three months of this year, as the level of imports grew ahead of Trump tariffs.
The figures, released on Wednesday, mark the first contraction of the US economy since the Covid pandemic, according to figures released by the US government. It marks the worst performance by the US economy in nearly three years.
Mr Trump blamed the contraction on his predecessor, Joe Biden.
"It's not Trump, because we came in on January, just quarterly numbers, and we came in, and I was very against everything that Biden was doing in terms of the economy and so many ways, not only on the border," he said at a Cabinet meeting on Monday.
The president also claimed that the US had received $8 trillion (nearly £6 trillion) in investment from chip manufacturers, car companies, and others. His press secretary said earlier this week that the figure was $5 trillion (£3.7 trillion).
The economic contraction were a surprise to many economists, who had suggested gross domestic product (GDP) would increase by 0.8% for the first three months of 2025.
The figures were accompanied by a rise in consumer spending, with the level of American household purchases increasing by 1.8% - the weakest pace of spending growth since 2023.
GDP figures, released quarterly by the Commerce Department, are a reflection on the growth of any economy, taking into account consumer spending, investments and trade.
The somewhat surprising figures contrast those released for the previous quarter, which saw the US economy grow 2.4% during the last three months of 2024.
It comes as US stocks fell following the release of the US GDP report, with the Dow dropping 315 points - the equivalent of 0.7%.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 plunged 1.2% on the release of the figures, with the Nasdaq 100 also declining by 1.7%.
The comments follow a rallying cry by Donald Trump last night, which saw the US President declare “we’re only just getting started” as he celebrated 100 days in office.
The campaign-style rally, which took place in Michigan, saw Trump speak for around 90 minutes, mocking Joe Biden, attacking “radical left lunatics” and defending his global tariff war.
It comes after polling data showed Trump to be one of the least popular presidents in history after 100 days in the White House.
"Removing the invaders is not just a campaign pledge," he said, alongside a video of migrants he claims are gang members being deported to prisons in El Salvador.