On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump addresses the audience following his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Shawn Thew | Via Reuters
During a recent interview on Bloomberg Television, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick placed the blame for negative economic indicators and declining stock prices squarely on former President Joe Biden, rather than President Trump.
“The president commented on it last night,” Lutnick stated. “He mentioned that Biden left him a big mess.”
“Biden left behind a significant portion of the economy that [Trump] is now working to repair,” Lutnick added.
In a speech to Congress on Tuesday evening, Trump described his predecessor’s legacy as an “economic disaster” alongside an “inflation crisis” that he is tasked with handling.
It’s worth noting that the U.S. economy actually grew by 2.8% over the last year, with an inflation rate of just 2.9% in December—far below the peak of 9.1% reached in June 2022.
Lutnick’s remarks came in response to a question regarding “recent data that hasn’t been positive,” alongside worries that Trump’s substantial new tariffs on Canada and Mexico might hinder economic expansion and stock market performance.
“You’re referencing Biden’s data,” Lutnick shot back.
“Do not tarnish my President Trump with Biden’s outdated narratives,” he asserted.
“It’s March now,” he continued. “My president took office on January 20. Do you really believe that economic data released in early March is connected to Donald Trump?”
“You have to be joking,” he exclaimed. “Enough with that; just stop.”
When asked if he meant to imply that concerning economic data was misleading, Lutnick replied, “I think the data indicates that if Joe Biden were still in control, you would be facing serious issues.”
“But now there’s a new president, a new sheriff in town,” he emphasized. “You’re witnessing investments; there are already trillions of dollars in manufacturing relocating to America.”
Earlier on Wednesday, ADP, a payroll processing firm, announced that 77,000 jobs were added in February, which was significantly lower than the revised count of 186,000 for January and nearly half the expectations set by economists.
In the days preceding this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by over 1,300 points combined.
During an investment announcement at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 2025, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick speaks while President Donald Trump listens.
Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images
On the same Monday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecasted a decline in gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.8% for the first quarter of 2025, down from a previously projected decline of 1.5% just a week earlier. Their GDPNow model had, earlier in February, anticipated a growth rate of 2.3%.
Moreover, the Conference Board reported that U.S. consumer confidence significantly dropped in February, Trump’s first complete month back in office. This 7-point fall marked the steepest decline in consumer sentiment since August 2021.
This was not the first occasion for Lutnick to attempt distancing the Trump administration from unfavourable economic data.
On Sunday, he implied that the administration might alter the methods used to calculate gross domestic product.
“Historically, governments have manipulated GDP figures,” Lutnick asserted on Fox News. “They account for government spending as part of GDP. Thus, I’m going to separate those components for transparency.”
This proposal faced swift criticism from economists. Separating government expenditure from consumer spending within GDP calculations could complicate or misrepresent critical insights regarding the health of the U.S. economy, as noted by the Associated Press.
Still, the idea garnered at least one notable supporter: Elon Musk.
Musk, who is spearheading a campaign through his so-called Department of Government Efficiency aimed at downsizing the federal government’s size and budget, tweeted on Friday: “A more accurate measure of GDP would exclude government spending.”
“Otherwise, GDP can be artificially inflated by spending on projects that fail to enhance people’s lives,” Musk argued.
Lutnick’s assertion that economic data is subject to political manipulation aligns with a broader trend of the Trump administration pushing back against governmental data collection and reporting.
Last week, Lutnick disbanded two advisory committees of experts that were previously collaborating with the government to produce economic statistics, according to a report from Reuters.
One of these committees, the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee, played a role in generating crucial data on inflation, employment, and GDP.
