Donald Trump has said he wants the economy to collapse within the next 12 months to improve his chances of defeating Joe Biden in November's presidential election.
“If there's going to be a crash, I hope it happens in the next 12 months,” Trump said on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Monday. Because I don't want to be Herbert Hoover.
“The only president I don't want to be is Herbert Hoover,” Trump, the current front-runner in the Republican presidential primary, added, referring to the 31st US president.
Hoover's term began in 1929 with a strong economy, but was soon disrupted by the Great Depression.
Trump added, “Our economy is incredible. Our economy is so fragile. And the only reason it's running now is because that's what we did, which is Trump. Because it's venting the smoke of what the administration has done. It's just smoke pouring out.”
Mr. Biden slammed his Republican rival last month. Remarks at the campaign reception In Boston, President Trump was likened to Hoover.
“In the four years that Donald Trump was president, he's the only president other than Herbert Hoover to actually lose his job in four years. That's why I often refer to him as Donald 'Herbert Hoover' Trump.” I think so,” Biden said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. economy slowed as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to a 22-year high in hopes of spurring the economic slowdown and keeping inflation at the central bank's 2% target. has remained surprisingly stable.
Just last week, the Labor Department released its December jobs report, which beat expectations and showed employers added 216,000 jobs to the economy, according to Refinitiv data. This is significantly higher than the 170,000 jobs expected by economists.
Meanwhile, President Trump told Dobbs, “I think this country is in the greatest crisis it's ever been in.''
“A big part of that is because we have leaders who don't know what to do,” he added, noting that before Biden took office, “there was no money flowing to Hamas or Hezbollah.” office.
Dobbs, a former Fox Business personality and vocal supporter of President Trump, asked the 77-year-old businessman-turned-politician what he would do to help financially struggling Americans reach the presidency. I asked him if he was going to do it.
“What we're going to do is cut drilling and cut energy, and that's going to keep inflation down and keep interest rates down,” Trump said, pointing to the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline.
The proposed pipeline, which would run through Alberta, Canada and Nebraska, would carry up to 830,000 barrels (35 million gallons) of crude oil per day and was supported by President Trump. But shortly after taking office in 2021, Biden refused to allow the pipeline to cross the border, citing longstanding concerns that burning oil sands crude could worsen climate change and make it difficult to reverse. canceled.
In an interview aired on the right-wing streaming platform Frank Speech on Monday night, President Trump claimed that his administration had produced a better economy than the Biden administration.
“Inflation is at levels we haven't seen in 70 years,” President Trump said.
U.S. inflation rose 3.1% in November, according to the latest Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in the cost of everyday goods and services.
Although it was the lowest monthly rate of increase since June, it was still well above the Fed's 2% target.
The three-year inflation rate under the Biden administration, which took office three years ago, was 17.2%, averaging 5.9% annually.
Under the Trump administration, inflation averaged 1.9% in each year of his presidential term, and 7.6% over his four-year term.
