Biden: Trump's economic plan will be a disaster

(Patria) - Outgoing US President Joe Biden on Tuesday called his successor Donald Trump's economic plans a "disaster," in a speech praising his own legacy, AFP reported.

Biden said Trump's threats to impose large import tariffs were a "big mistake" and challenged Trump to build on what he called the successes of his own administration.

The president's speech came after Trump won a second term largely on the back of American voters' anger over the high cost of living under Democrats.

"I pray to God that the president-elect rejects Project 2025. I think it would be an economic disaster for us and the region," Biden said at the Brookings Institution in Washington, referring to the conservative plan for a second Trump administration.

Coughing frequently due to a cold, Biden said American consumers would pay the price for the tariffs Trump promised to impose on neighbors Mexico, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific rival China, which are the United States' three largest trading partners.

"I believe this approach is a big mistake," Biden added.

At a separate event on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Trump's tariffs could "spoil the progress we have made on inflation and have detrimental consequences for growth."

She warned at a Wall Street Journal CEO Council summit that high tariffs could significantly raise prices for American consumers and put pressure on companies that rely on imports.

Shadow President

The White House promoted Biden's speech as a "keynote on his economic legacy" as the eighty-two-year-old looks to the history books with less than six weeks left in his term.

Trump's inauguration is not until January 20, but he has already become something of a shadow president, making statements on the economy and foreign policy while being celebrated by world leaders.

Biden has remained relatively quiet but came out in defense of his own performance before an audience of economists.

He contrasted his "middle, bottom-up economic book" with what he called Trump's failed promise of a "trickle-down economy" where tax cuts for the wealthy were supposed to increase revenues.

Biden also highlighted achievements including the US economy's recovery from the Covid pandemic and his massive investments in green technology and industry.

"The president-elect Trump is inheriting the strongest economy in modern history," Biden said.

However, the outgoing president said he regretted not putting his name on the Covid stimulus checks sent to Americans, as Trump had done.

Biden concluded his speech with a plea for American leadership in a troubled world, although Trump has repeatedly signaled his intention to take a more isolationist stance.

"If we don't lead the world, what nation leads the world?" he said.