By Issues & Insights Editorial Board | December 23, 2025
Timing is everything in humor, and in politics. So, it was particularly amusing to read a piece in MS NOW on Monday quoting Democrats who were all singing from the same hymnal – namely that President Donald Trump “owns the economy.”
‘When you take office, you take ownership,’ Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told MS NOW. ‘That’s what leadership is about.’
‘It became Trump’s economy a long time ago,’ Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said.
Obviously, these Democrats meant it in a bad way.
But then, on Tuesday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its estimate for GDP growth in the third quarter: a blistering 4.3%.
That was well ahead of economists’ expectations, and comes on top of a 3.8% growth in the second quarter.
Take a look at this chart to see what’s been happening.
The economy was softening under President Joe Biden, to the point where it contracted in the first three months of 2025 (before Trump’s policies took effect).
Then, the direction changed.
(The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow currently pegs growth in the fourth quarter at a strong 3%.)
Last week, meanwhile, produced good inflation news, as prices “unexpectedly – and sharply” slowed in November, which CNN described as “a seemingly welcome change for Americans weighed down by the persistently high cost of living.” This is the exact opposite of what “experts” predicted would happen after Trump started imposing tariffs.
And, despite the endless lament over “affordability,” the fact is that real, inflation-adjusted wages have been climbing since Trump took office. That’s a marked reversal from the Biden economy, which created a genuine affordability crisis that we are only now clawing our way out of. Deficits during Trump’s 10 months in office are $100 billion lower than they were the year before under Biden.
As MS NOW put it, “Democrats were very clear: Trump owns the economy — every last bit of it.”
We agree! We are going to hold Democrats to that. So should voters come next November.
Issues & Insights was founded by seasoned journalists of the IBD Editorials page. Our mission is to provide timely, fact-based reporting and deeply informed analysis on the news of the day – without fear or favor.
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