U.S. President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One to depart for Alabama, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 1, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
President Donald Trump took credit for the “good parts” of the economy in an exclusive interview with NBC News airing Sunday, but said that the “bad parts” are former President Joe Biden’s economy.
Trump defended his tariffs, even amid the economic uncertainty stemming from the sweeping announcement.
“Ultimately, I take responsibility for everything, but I’ve only just been here for a little more than three months,” Trump said.
“The tariffs have just started kicking in. … The tariffs are going to make us rich. We’re going to be a very rich country,” he added.
It’s not the first time that Trump has tried to shift blame to his predecessor. Just last week, he put the onus on Biden for the U.S. economy contracting in the first quarter of the year.
Trump also doubled down on comments he made during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the week, when he dismissed concerns that his tariffs would lead to supply shortages.
“I don’t think a beautiful baby girl needs – that’s 11 years old – needs to have 30 dolls,” Trump said.
“I’m just saying [children] don’t need to have 30 dolls, they can have three, they don’t need to have 250 pencils, they can have five,” he added.
In the interview, Trump also downplayed the possibility of long-term negative impacts from his tariffs on the U.S. economy, even if the U.S. experiences a recession in the short term.
“Look, yeah, it’s — everything’s OK. What we are — I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically,” he told Welker.