Two weeks ahead of the official start of his second presidency, Donald Trump is slamming the United States as a "disaster" on social media.
In a New York Times report published Sunday morning, White House correspondent Peter Baker lays out how current statistics defy the president-elect's claim.
"New data reported in the past few days indicate that murders are way down, illegal immigration at the southern border has fallen even below where it was when Mr. Trump left office and roaring stock markets finished their best two years in a quarter-century," Baker writes.
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"Jobs are up, wages are rising and the economy is growing as fast as it did during Mr. Trump’s presidency," the Times correspondent continues. "Unemployment is as low as it was just before the Covid-19 pandemic and near its historic best. Domestic energy production is higher than it has ever been," Baker adds.
Furthermore, Baker reports "the America that Mr. Trump will inherit from President [Joe] Biden" beginning January 20 "is actually in better shape than that bequeathed to any newly elected president since George W. Bush came into office in 2001."
During his 2024 presidential campaign — and just weeks before his second term — Trump claimed "immigration, crime and inflation are out of control," Baker notes. However, he adds, the president-elect is moving back into the White House with an enviable hand to play, one that other presidents would have dearly loved on their opening day."
"President Ronald Reagan inherited double-digit inflation and an unemployment rate twice as high as today," the Times correspondent emphasizes. "President Barack Obama inherited two foreign wars and an epic financial crisis. Mr. Biden inherited a devastating pandemic and the resulting economic turmoil."
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Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Sandi told the Times that the MAGA leader "is inheriting an economy that is about as good as it ever gets."
Zandi emphasized, "The U.S. economy is the envy of the rest of the world, as it is the only significant economy that is growing more quickly post-pandemic than prepandemic."
Similarly, University of Virginia’s Miller Center's director William J. Antholis told Baker that regardless of Trump's claims, the incoming president is "stepping into an improving situation."
Bates adds, "After inheriting an economy in free-fall and skyrocketing violent crime, President Biden is proud to hand his successor the best-performing economy on earth, the lowest violent crime rates in over 50 years, and the lowest border crossings in over four years.
The Times' full report is available at this link (subscription required).
