Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert. And I'm with you tonight. As President Trump makes his case for the first 100 days in a rally and a new TV interview, and he's facing another economic rebuttal, though, to the 100 days claims he's making about progress.

In fact, there's tough news signals that growth is flagging in the U.S. Trump's big new interview wound up showing him admitting a point that his DOJ

also tried to deny for legal reasons. Trump admitting he's refusing to pick up the phone and facilitate

a detainee's return. And so he's not really following the Supreme Court order by his own admission.

So we're going to get into both of these stories for you tonight. I want to begin with the sort of double-barreled problem the administration's facing as markets have slowing

growth and mounting uncertainty. The White House received its first GDP report card. The economy

shrank three-tenths of a percent in the first quarter of 2025. The U.S. economy's shrinking

for the first time in three years. The headline was that GDP in the first quarter contracted.

First time we've seen a negative number since 2022. The sharp reversal from the 2.4% growth we saw

in the fourth quarter. The economy is a contracting. There's no doubt about a tariff turmoil,

sending GDP into the red stock selling off a bit

as the president's trade war now leading to big questions about where this economy is heading.

And the problems that Trump started in the markets are not just staying there. That news about a

shrinking economy means a higher recession risk. Now, let's be clear and fair.

Many factors, of course, can shape economic growth or retreat when you're talking about the entire U.S. economy or, as so much has been discussed lately, the entire global interaction of the economy.

Those new numbers on the contracting overall gross domestic product.

Is that because of Trump's tariffs?

Well, largely the answer is yes.

The main driver of the first quarter contraction was Trump's trade war.

That's from the Wall Street Journal, a kind of journalistic Bible for the financial class.

And the point can be nuanced.

Markets and Growth often reflect plans for the future, expectations, right? Businesses will make moves. In this case, they have been bracing for the much advertised tariffs to take effect.

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