Biden’s Only Gift For Trump Was The Inflation Crisis

President Donald Trump has spent this year unwrapping an economy handed to him by former President Joe Biden. Inside the box: inflation and sticker shock.

From when Biden took office in January 2021 through the end of December 2024, consumer prices rose 21.2%. Even as inflation cools under President Trump, Americans are still living with the higher prices locked in during Biden’s term in office.

With the exception of George Washington, every president’s tenure runs the risk of being defined by the lingering effects of their predecessor’s policies. That reality has put the Trump White House on the defensive. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has repeatedly pushed back against the notion that today’s economy belongs to Trump alone.

She’s described Democrats as “the greatest con artists in history,” who are “trying to claim ownership of an issue that they created.” On offense, the press secretary says that by economic measures, things are actually looking up.

“Every economic metric does in fact show that the economy is getting better and brighter than where it was under the previous administration,” Leavitt said. Shortly after that statement, November inflation came in at 2.7% and GDP growth surged to 4.3% — far exceeding expectations.

While the economic playing field is never fully level, Joe Biden and Donald Trump occupy a rare position as the only presidents in modern U.S. history to both inherit the monetary effects of the other.

President Joe Biden received an average inflation of 1.9% and an economy primed with two stimulus packages from President Trump.

In March of 2020, Trump signed the CARES Act into law, a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that acted as a lifeline to shut-down businesses all over the country. The package was passed unanimously in the Senate and 388 to 5 in the House of Representatives — notably, the five representatives who voted against the bill were Republicans who were concerned about the cost and impacts to the federal deficit.

In December of 2020, Trump signed a second relief package totaling $900 billion, which included another round of direct payments. Six Republican senators voted against the bill; no Democrats opposed it. The House passed the measure 359-53. The 53 who voted against the bill included 50 Republicans who broke with party leadership. The legislation was a compromise, with Republicans pushing for limited total spending, and Democrats demanding larger checks and extended unemployment benefits.

One year later, Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law, more than double the size of Trump’s final stimulus package. The bill sent $1,400 checks to Americans in a bustling economy. Not a single Republican voted to pass the legislation.

Economists later echoed the concern that all three of the stimulus packages inflated the economy. “Both Trump and Biden contributed to the fiscal stimulus that fed into the inflation,” said George Selgin, senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

Biden had average inflation during his term of 4.9% while Trump had average inflation of 1.9%. Trump’s inflation reached a high of 2.5% during his first term while Biden’s reached a high of 9.1% in June 2022.

Economist Peter Morici was blunt in his assessment of where blame should be issued.

“It was irresponsible to do stimulus when the economy was well on its way to recovery. Blame is falling where it’s due. Biden does bear responsibility for the endurance of COVID inflation.”

As inflation finally began to cool, credit shifted elsewhere. Many point to former Senator Joe Manchin for blocking additional spending that could have further fueled price increases. Left-wing MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough remarked, “You can just thank Joe Manchin if you’re glad that interest rates aren’t even higher,” referring to the interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve had to implement in an attempt to tame inflation.

Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Sam Zell agreed, saying, “Unfortunately, we only had one senator who stepped up to the line when, in fact, everyone should have stepped up and recognized this was a disastrous policy.”

Others issued credit to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Republican Senator John Kennedy said, “It seems to me that you and some of … your colleagues deserve some credit for that. … I’m not saying things are perfect, but I never imagined that our landing could be this soft.”

The “soft landing” has continued into Trump’s second term with an average of 2.7% inflation so far. But lower inflation does not mean lower prices — and now, voters are left paying the bill. As Americans continue to confront elevated sticker prices, Republicans will be forced to defend seats in an economy still shaped by stimulus spending many warned against.