nbcbayarea61d ago
President Donald Trump says it’s his economy now.In an interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas that aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday, the 47th president said the country is already experiencing the Trump economy.“At what point are we in the Trump economy?” Llamas asked.“I’d say we’re there now,” he replied. “I’m very proud of it.”His remarks come at a time when most Americans tell pollsters they are not satisfied with the state of the economy and as Trump executes a barnstorming strategy to bring his economic messageto political battlegrounds before the November midterms.An NPR/Marist/PBS News survey released last week showed that 36% of adults say they approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 59% disapprove. In off-year elections last November, Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and New York hammered away at “affordability” on their way to victory.In the interview, which was taped Wednesday in the Oval Office, Trump said the economy is doing so well that Democrats are abandoning that message — and also blamed his predecessor, President Joe Biden, for stubbornly high prices on some staples.“In the last four days, it’s only four days, the Democrats have not uttered the word ‘affordability,’” he said. “They’re the ones that caused the problem. I took over a mess in every way.”Using figures that are not backed up by the administration’s own data, Trump claimed that the gross domestic product has grown by 5.6% on his watch. According to the Labor Department, the economy grew at a strong annualized rate of 4.4% in the third quarter of 2025. It has not grown at more than 5% in any quarter since 2021, when the U.S. was recovering from the Covid pandemic.The country’s economic output also contracted in the first quarter of 2025, in part due to anticipated trade and tariff policies that Trump later unveiled in April, affecting the global economy.2026 Milan Cortina Olympics47 minutes agoTrump criticizes Olympian Hunter Hess, reigniting sports-politics debateReal Estate58 minutes agoVoters are worried about the cost of housing. But Trump wants home prices to keep climbingTrump AdministrationFeb 6Trump's racist post about Obamas is deleted after backlashThe Labor Department has not released its data for last year’s fourth quarter due to a government shutdown. Though most estimates of the quarter’s growth are much lower, the president was referring to the Atlanta Fed’s projection, which has ranged as high as 5.4%, according to a White House official.“I think ’26 is even gonna be better,” Trump told Llamas. “You know, we have hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into our country. Actually trillions — $18 trillion is being invested in our country as we speak. And there are factories and plants and thousands of businesses being built all over the country.”While Trump has secured foreign investments — and promises of investments — in the U.S., even the White House website gives a figure of $9.6 trillion, a little more than half the sum he cited. And reviews of that figure have concluded it is inflated.Llamas asked whether foreign companies’ plants and factories would open in the U.S. during Trump’s term, which expires Jan. 20, 2029.“Oh, yeah,” Trump said. “They’ll be opening up over the next year, year and a half, yeah.”In May, Trump told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the “good parts” of the economy were his, while the “bad parts” belonged to Biden.Steve Kopack contributed.
