Trump’s biggest lie about the economy: ‘I inherited a mess’ | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Trump falsely claims he inherited a mess; economy was strong under Biden.
- Tariffs, immigration caps and research cuts fueled inflation and labor loss.
- Planned Medicaid, food aid cuts and ACA premium hikes will strain services.
President Donald Trump’s contentious speech on the economy Wednesday night contained his usual exaggerations and falsehoods, but his most prominent lie was one that too many have come to accept as truth.
Trump opened his remarks with it. Speaking of the nation’s economy, he said: “Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess.”
No, he didn’t.
Trump inherited a strong and improving economy and he has made a mess of it.
Blaming his predecessor is the foundation of Trump’s defense of his economic bungling. It’s a dodge he repeated when he came to North Carolina Friday for a speech in Rocky Mount. The event was part of the president’s reluctant outreach to Americans who are souring on the economy even as Trump rates it as “A +++++.”
The president’s unwillingness to acknowledge the high cost of living is often said to be a repeat of former President Joe Biden’s political mistake. That, too, is false.
It’s true that Biden and his advisers were slow to realize the persistence of inflation and the economic hangover from the pandemic. But it’s also true that the economy was improving rapidly.
Under Biden, unemployment was near a historic low. Inflation had dropped from 9% to 3%. Wages were rising, especially for low earners. The stock market and corporate profits were strong. The government was making massive investments in infrastructure and low-cost renewable energy.
Gerald Cohen, chief economist with the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the economy Trump inherited “looked pretty strong going into the beginning of the year.”
Trump campaigned as if the economy was in a free fall that only he could reverse. In a speech in Asheville in August 2024, he said, “Vote Trump and your incomes will soar, your savings will grow, young people will be able to afford a home, and we will bring back the American dream bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
That’s not what happened. Instead, Trump imposed sweeping, disruptive and inflation-fueling tariffs. He has taken a Draconian approach to immigration that is depriving businesses of workers. His cuts in university research grants is slowing scientific progress and hurting regional economies, especially in North Carolina’s Research Triangle.
“If it weren’t for the tariffs, you would be seeing inflation settling lower,” said Cohen, a former U.S. Treasury official during the Obama administration. And the crackdown on immigration, he said, “is definitely having an effect. One reason the unemployment rate isn’t higher is because the labor force is shrinking.”
Once you see through Trump’s fog of false claims and his incessant blaming of Biden, it’s clear that the economy would be quite strong if he had done nothing. There would be no new tariffs. No Elon Musk eviscerating the federal workforce. No cutoff of research grants. No sharp reduction in legal immigration and no roundups of undocumented immigrants who have no criminal record. No stopping renewable energy projects.
And soon it will get worse. The sharp hike in health insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act will hit on Jan. 1. Coming cuts in Medicaid and food assistance under Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will increase the number of uninsured people, threaten rural hospitals, strain state budgets and overwhelm food banks.
In Rocky Mount, Trump will weave between blaming others and gaslighting Americans about the economy, but the source of the problem will be the one who is trying to explain away its troubles.
Under the Trump administration, the economy belongs to the Trump administration. Sadly, it was getting better before Trump and his enablers set about fixing it. Cohen said, “I would generally agree that if they had done nothing, the outlook would be better.”
But the strongest rebuke to Trump’s handling of the economy lies in his own words. In Asheville, he said, “From the day I take the oath of office, we will rapidly drive prices down and make America affordable again.”
Eleven months after taking the oath, Trump hasn’t kept that promise.
Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@newsobserver.com