{"id":1215,"date":"2025-05-01T15:02:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T15:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1215"},"modified":"2025-05-01T15:02:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T15:02:41","slug":"u-s-gdp-economy-contracts-fueling-recession-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1215","title":{"rendered":"U.S. GDP, Economy Contracts, Fueling Recession Fears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the latest report card on the <strong>U.S.<\/strong> economy, escalating tensions between <strong>Pakistan<\/strong> and <strong>India<\/strong>, and <strong>Turkey<\/strong>\u2019s widening crackdown on political opposition.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>\u201cBE PATIENT!!!\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>U.S. President Donald Trump may have just celebrated his <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/25\/trump-first-100-days-global-stage-tariffs-immigration-china-india\/\">first 100 days<\/a> back in office, but official economic figures released on Wednesday are spoiling his party.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the latest report card on the <strong>U.S.<\/strong> economy, escalating tensions between <strong>Pakistan<\/strong> and <strong>India<\/strong>, and <strong>Turkey<\/strong>\u2019s widening crackdown on political opposition.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">        <\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-fallback\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/category\/world-brief\/\">Sign up<\/a>  to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.            <\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-shortcode-newsletter=\"world_brief\" class=\"newsletter-unit-signup newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode email-capture--step-1 newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief newsletter-shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"show-on-email-capture--signed-up hide-from-newsletter-subscriber newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode--container\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit newsletters-page newsletter-row\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.<\/h2>\n<p>\n                        <button class=\"button\">Sign Up<\/button>\n                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"grid--flex newsletter-world_brief newsletter-signup-container\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"World Brief sign up form\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"buttons\">\n<div class=\"hide-from-newsletter-subscriber privacy-policy-container\">\n<div class=\"privacy-policy-acknowledge\">\n<p><small>By submitting your email, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/termsofuse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Use<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n    <label for=\"email-world_brief\">Enter your email<\/label><br \/>\n    <input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" class=\"hide-from-reg hide-from-sub\" id=\"email-world_brief\" aria-required=\"true\" required=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <button class=\"button button--signup \" data-newsletter-id=\"world_brief\" data-sourceid=\"In-article unit\">Sign Up<\/button>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3\/>\n<p>U.S. President Donald Trump may have just celebrated his <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/25\/trump-first-100-days-global-stage-tariffs-immigration-china-india\/\">first 100 days<\/a> back in office, but official economic figures released on Wednesday are spoiling his party.<\/p>\n<p>In his inaugural address this January, the U.S. leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/trump-heralds-golden-age-promise-filled-inaugural-address-rcna186498\">vowed to usher<\/a> in a \u201cgolden age of America.\u201d Yet initial economic reports aren\u2019t looking so promising. The U.S. economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/04\/30\/gdp-q1-2025-.html\">first three months<\/a> of 2025, according to a new report by the Commerce Department\u2019s Bureau of Economic Analysis, marking the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/economy-trump-gdp-tariffs-inflation-trade-28a0da24c803c4796eb32704cd0244cc\">first time<\/a> that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/us-economy-shrinks-by-unexpected-03\/a-72399375\">world\u2019s largest economy<\/a> has contracted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/04\/30\/gdp-trump-tariffs-economy\">three years<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The decline was primarily driven by a surge in imports, the report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bea.gov\/news\/2025\/gross-domestic-product-1st-quarter-2025-advance-estimate\">said<\/a>, likely as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/economy\/us-gdp-q1-2025-1f82f689\">businesses raced<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2025\/04\/30\/gdp-q1-economy-tariffs\/\">secure foreign goods<\/a> before Trump\u2019s long-promised \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs went into effect. Government spending also fell while consumer spending slowed, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bea.gov\/news\/2025\/gross-domestic-product-1st-quarter-2025-advance-estimate\">report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The latest figures are likely to further intensify uncertainty for investors and businesses as well as boost recession fears, which have hung over the U.S. economy as Trump has unleashed staggering tariffs on <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/02\/trump-tariffs-liberation-day-reprisals-expected-china-vietnam-europe\/\">much of the world<\/a>, and in particular China, which currently faces 145 percent tariffs on most goods. Stocks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/04\/29\/stock-market-today-live-updates.html\">tumbled<\/a> on Wednesday <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/live\/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-fall-on-bleak-gdp-jobs-data-with-big-tech-earnings-on-deck-133104045.html\">in the wake<\/a> of the Commerce Department report\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody\u2019s Analytics, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Markzandi\/status\/1917565169028264408\">post on X<\/a> that the 0.3 percent decline in GDP \u201coverstates the economy\u2019s weakness, but it is weak.\u201d He added that the \u201cthreat of tariffs and DOGE cuts weighed heavily on the economy in the quarter,\u201d referring to the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost worrisome is the weak growth in consumer spending, and that is despite the boost to buying as consumers rushed to get ahead of the tariffs,\u201d Zandi added. \u201cThe economy isn\u2019t in recession, but is on the precipice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The report\u2019s findings mark a sharp reversal from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/04\/30\/gdp-trump-tariffs-economy\">strong growth<\/a> that the economy was exhibiting in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/30\/business\/us-economy-gdp-tariffs.html\">final months of 2024<\/a>\u2014a fact that Democratic lawmakers quickly seized on to slam Trump\u2019s economic agenda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe report card is out. It\u2019s a pretty objective fact that the GDP was growing at 2.4 percent in the final quarter of last year, when President Biden was in office,\u201d Rep. Ro Khanna said in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/factpostnews\/status\/1917579996777922757\">Fox News<\/a>. \u201cThe policies just aren\u2019t working,\u201d He added. Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2025\/04\/30\/trump-presidency-news-100-days\/\">statement<\/a> that Trump needed to \u201cadmit his failure and reverse course, and immediately fire his economic team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump, for his part, urged Americans to \u201cBE PATIENT!!!\u201d in a post on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TrumpDailyPosts\/status\/1917569542022193307\">Truth Social<\/a> and said that his predecessor, former U.S. President Joe Biden, was to blame for any economic woes. \u201cTariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers,\u201d he said, noting that he was only inaugurated on Jan. 20.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden \u2018Overhang,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThis will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3\/>\n<hr\/>\n<h3\/>\n<p><strong>Attack fears.<\/strong> Pakistan said on Wednesday that it had \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/india-pakistan-kashmir-pahalgam-attari-wagah-a16c6fc5cf190f0ce0759ad4370a29cc\">credible intelligence<\/a>\u201d indicating that India plans to attack it in the next 24 to 36 hours, without offering further details. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/pakistans-minister-tarar-says-india-may-launch-military-strike-within-next-24-36-2025-04-29\/\">called on<\/a> Washington to push India to \u201cdial down the rhetoric and act responsibly.\u201d Indian officials have not yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/pakistans-minister-tarar-says-india-may-launch-military-strike-within-next-24-36-2025-04-29\/\">publicly responded<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions between the two countries have soared in the aftermath of <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/23\/kashmir-phalagam-attack-india-shooting-modi-pakistan\/\">last week\u2019s deadly shooting<\/a> in India-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people and marked the deadliest attack on civilians in the territory in nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/23\/kashmir-phalagam-attack-india-shooting-modi-pakistan\/\">two decades<\/a>. The Kashmir Resistance militant group <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/23\/kashmir-phalagam-attack-india-shooting-modi-pakistan\/\">claimed responsibility<\/a> for the attack, and India has blamed Pakistan, which it has accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/29\/world\/asia\/india-pakistan-kashmir-terrorism.html\">backing terrorism<\/a> targeting India. Islamabad <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/25\/kashmir-attack-india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty\/\">denies involvement<\/a> in the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan said that India\u2019s planned attack will be made \u201con the pretext of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/pakistans-minister-tarar-says-india-may-launch-military-strike-within-next-24-36-2025-04-29\/\">baseless and concocted allegations<\/a> of involvement in the Pahalgam incident,\u201d referring to the deadly shooting in Kashmir. Islamabad also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c75dgz5pq2no\">warned<\/a> that \u201cany such military adventurism by India would be responded to assuredly and decisively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clashes in Syria.<\/strong> After two days of deadly clashes between Syria\u2019s pro-government fighters and Druze militia on the outskirts of Damascus, Israel is also getting involved. Israeli officials announced on Wednesday that they had conducted an <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IDF\/status\/1917571439579853056\">airstrike<\/a> near Damascus as a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IsraelWarRoom\/status\/1917516611361333705\">warning operation<\/a>.\u201d At least 39 people have been killed in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/30\/world\/europe\/syria-sectarian-fighting-druse.html\">clashes<\/a>, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and the outbreaks of violence have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/israel-says-it-carried-out-warning-strike-extremists-syria-preparing-attack-2025-04-30\/\">occurred<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/30\/world\/europe\/syria-sectarian-fighting-druse.html\">predominantly Druze areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has previously said that it would defend Syria\u2019s Druze community from attacks, an offer that many Syrian Druze <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/30\/world\/europe\/syria-sectarian-fighting-druse.html\">have rejected<\/a>. Wednesday\u2019s attack \u201cstruck operatives\u201d who \u201cattacked Druze civilians,\u201d the Israel Defense Forces said on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IDF\/status\/1917571439579853056\">X<\/a>. \u201cIsrael will not allow harm to the Druze community in Syria out of a deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IsraelWarRoom\/status\/1917516611361333705\">joint statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cracking down.<\/strong> More than a month after Turkish authorities jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/mar\/19\/istanbul-mayor-arrested-ekrem-imamoglu-days-before-likely-presidential-nomination-erdogan-ntwnfb\">about 100 other individuals<\/a>, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan only appears to be deepening his crackdown on political opposition.<\/p>\n<p>In March, mass protests swept Turkey after authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/23\/world\/middleeast\/turkey-ekrem-imamoglu-istanbul.html\">arrested<\/a> Imamoglu\u2014a popular politician and Erdogan\u2019s top rival\u2014on corruption charges <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/23\/world\/middleeast\/turkey-ekrem-imamoglu-istanbul.html\">just days<\/a> before he was set to be named the opposition\u2019s presidential candidate. Imamoglu has denied the charges, and the arrest has been interpreted by many as a move by Erdogan to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/turkey-crackdown-istanbul-mayor-imamoglu-arrest-erdogan-a4b5e63c626df17b7075ccf6b6d9cdc8\">sideline challengers<\/a> ahead of the country\u2019s next presidential elections.<\/p>\n<p>Turkish authorities this week arrested <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/10070978-1634-4c6f-b50e-7846ab335c67\">18 Istanbul city municipal employees<\/a> on corruption charges, in what appears to be the latest sign of Erdogan\u2019s broadening clampdown. The 18 individuals were originally detained in a broader group of 52 people who officials linked to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/turkey-imamoglu-corruption-arrests-istanbul-820c4a653e1a4e36358a407f93e9456a\">same corruption probe<\/a> targeting Imamoglu. The other 34 people have since been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/10070978-1634-4c6f-b50e-7846ab335c67\">released<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3\/>\n<p>Sheila, a runaway kangaroo with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/apr\/29\/kangaroo-sheila-alabama\">powerful hop<\/a>, streaked down a highway in Alabama on Tuesday, stunning drivers and prompting state troopers to shut down the interstate to capture her. That allowed Sheila\u2019s owner, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/apr\/29\/kangaroo-sheila-alabama\">Patrick Starr<\/a>, to tranquilize her and drive her home. \u201cWhen somebody said there was a kangaroo, of course I didn\u2019t believe it, and nobody believed it,\u201d local sheriff Andre Brunson said in a Facebook live video, adding: \u201cWe see a little bit of everything here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/04\/30\/us-economy-gdp-trump-tariffs-recession-trade-war\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the latest report card on the U.S. economy, escalating tensions between Pakistan and India, and Turkey\u2019s widening crackdown on political opposition. \u201cBE PATIENT!!!\u201d U.S. President Donald Trump may have just celebrated his first 100 days back in office, but official economic figures released on Wednesday are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politcical-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}