Biden calls Trump tariff approach 'a major mistake'
He also slammed Trump's economic plan as 'another tax cut for the very wealthy.'
President Joe Biden delivered remarks Tuesday focused on his administration’s economic legacy, drawing a sharp contrast between his four years in office and President-elect Donald Trump’s past and future terms.
Biden, speaking at the Brookings Institution, reflected on the economy he inherited from Trump and his administration’s work to help the country recover from COVID-19, arguing his approach to the economy benefited more people than Trump’s trickle-down theory.
Biden was critical of the Trump administration for having “no plan, real plan, to get us through one of the toughest periods in our nation's history,” but he said he did learn one thing from Trump.
“You know, within the first two months of office, I signed the American Rescue Plan, the most significant economic recovery package in our history. I also learned something from Donald Trump -- he signed checks for people, 7,400 bucks, because we passed the plan and I didn't. Stupid,” Biden said with a laugh, though he got the total amount of the stimulus checks wrong.
When asked at the White House press briefing about the comment, Jared Bernstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said the president was “joking.”
With the country at an “inflection point” after the 2024 elections, the president looked ahead to Trump’s next term, saying, “I pray to God the president-elect throws away Project 2025.” He also bluntly called Trump’s tariff threat “a major mistake.”
“All accounts the incoming administration is determined to return the country to another round of trickle-down economics and another tax cut for the very wealthy that will not be paid for or, if paid for, is going to have a real cost, once again causing massive deficits or significant cuts in basic programs, health care, education, veterans' benefits,” Biden said.
“On top of that, he seems determined to impose steep universal tariffs on all imported goods brought to this country on the mistaken belief that foreign countries will bear the cost of those tariffs rather than the American consumer," Biden added. "Who do you think pays for this? I believe this approach is a major mistake. I believe we have proven that approach is a mistake over the past four years. But we all know in time -- we all know in time what will happen."
Speaking of his own administration’s actions, Biden touted its work in bringing manufacturing back to the United States, boosting production of semiconductor chips, lowering health care costs and making major investments in infrastructure.
Biden also praised his team’s work to get inflation under control and raise wages, though he did acknowledge that “too many working- and middle-class families struggle with high prices for housing and groceries and daily needs of life,” and he pointed to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine for driving up inflation.
Biden asked for his record to be compared to Trump’s at the end of his successor’s term.
“President Reagan said, and I quote, ‘Facts are stubborn things. Facts are stubborn things.’ They are. Here are the facts, a set marker of benchmarks, if you will, and we should measure the success or failure of our next four years: During my presidency, we created 60 million new jobs in America. Will the next president create jobs or, like Herbert Hoover, be the only president to lose jobs in his administration?” asked Biden, who in the past year has referred to his political rival as “Donald ‘Herbert Hoover’ Trump.”
“During my presidency, we see the lowest average unemployment rate of ... any administration in 50 years,” Biden added. “Will the unemployment be higher or lower in the next four years?"
Closing his remarks, Biden touted the economy he was leaving behind -- even after an election that seemed to show many voters disagreed with his take.
“I believe the only way for a president to lead America now is to lead all of America. And I believe the economy I'm leaving at the moment -- and others can do better than I did, I'm not saying I was perfect -- but ends up, at this moment, the best economy, strongest economy in the world and for all Americans doing better,” Biden said, adding that while he’s leaving the presidency, he’s “not going anywhere.”