THE UNITED STATES’ economy has shrunk by 0.3% so far this year as its President Donald Trump yesterday marked 100 days in power.

The contraction is the first drop in three years in the US. Growth in the first quarter of this year was slowed by a surge in imports as companies in the US tried to bring in foreign goods before tariffs were imposed.

Trump took no responsibility for the state of the economy and insisted that poor performance was not related to his global tariffs.

He wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers.

“Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden “Overhang.”

“This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”

The drop in GDP from January to March reversed a 2.4% gain from the final quarter of 2024.

Imports grew at a 41% pace, the fastest since 2020, while consumer spending slowed sharply: 1.8% growth from 4% in the last quarter of 2024.

However, business investment rose at a 21.9% clip as companies in the US poured money into equipment. Some economists have forecast that the GDP will bounce back, but there is fear that tariffs and the erratic manner in which they have been rolled out will hurt growth in the second half of the year. Recession risks are rising.

Speaking at a rally yesterday, Trump claimed that he has had the “most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country”- despite recent polling showing that many Americans are disillusioned with economic and political turmoil that has taken hold of the country since he took office.

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He called Joe Biden “sleepy,” the media “fake,” judges who oppose him “communist,” Democratic opponents the “radical left,” and said friendly countries have “abused us more so than foe[s] on trade”.

Trump promised to conclude deals on trade but provided little in the way of details.

According to a poll conducted by Ipsos, only 39% of Americans currently approve of him and how he is conducting the presidency.

Sixty-four percent said he is “going too far” by trying to expand presidential powers.

With reporting by Press Association