For all of Donald Trump’s misguided boasts about his economic expertise, the president can’t seem to overcome his own economic illiteracy, frequently referencing phrases and concepts that he doesn’t seem to understand at a basic level.
In a recent News Nation interview, for example, the Republican said the United States’ wealth reached its apex in 1887, which didn’t make any sense at all. Hours earlier, he had boasted about lowering the cost of prescription drugs by 600%, which still isn’t how numbers work.
On the U.S. job market — an especially difficult subject for Trump given the severity of his failures — the president bragged that fired federal workers now like him “a lot” because they’ve all received high-paying jobs in the private sector, which might make sense were it not for the struggling private-sector job market that has emerged since the Republican returned to the White House.
But during his lengthy press conference on the anniversary of his second inaugural, one assertion stood out as especially ridiculous.
“Fourth quarter GDP is on track to pass perhaps much more than 5% growth,” Trump said, referring to the nation’s gross domestic product. He added, “Nobody in this room has ever heard about 5%. I think it could be 20% if we do it right.”
So, a few things.
First, the idea that 5% quarterly GDP growth is unheard of is plainly wrong. In fact, the U.S. saw quarterly GDP growth of 7% twice in the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency, which wasn’t really that long ago.
Second, most sensible officials recognize the importance of underpromising and overdelivering, especially after having already failed to deliver on earlier GDP promises. And yet, Trump keeps raising the bar, creating a dynamic in which even strong growth will likely disappoint the president’s unrealistic expectations.
But even if we put that aside, I’m stuck on the president’s claim that U.S. economic growth “could be 20%.”
As a matter of historical record, never in recorded history has the U.S. ever seen 20% growth. In 1942, when domestic production roared at the start of World War II, GDP growth reached nearly 19% — and we haven’t reached double digits since, even during economic booms. We wouldn’t even want to see growth that robust, since it would inevitably lead to breathtaking levels of inflation. As Trump really ought to understand, the numbers he casually threw around are not going to happen — and should not happen. Whining about his weak public support on the economy, the president added at his press conference, “Maybe I have bad public relations people.” Or maybe he has bad policies that are a direct result of his profound ignorance? This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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