An evenly split U.S. Senate rejected the latest bipartisan bid to block PresidentDonald Trump's tariffs on Wednesday, hours after the federal government reported that the nation's economy contracted for the first time in three years amid the chaos of the president's tariff policies.

U.S. GDP declined 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, raising fears of a recession. This is the first time the U.S. economy has not grown since the Covid-19 pandemic. This comes amid turmoil over President Trump's tariffs.

The U.S. economy shrank 0.3% from January through March, the first drop in three years. Gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — was down from 2.4% in the last three months of 2024.

April was one of the wildest months in recent memory for markets, capped off by a key data release that showed the economy shrank last quarter for the first time in years.

The US famously bounced back from a pandemic recession that struck like a hammer blow in 2020. Fueled by a massive government rescue effort that pumped tremendous amounts of money into the economy, the nation was soon outpacing rivals in a return to growth.

U.S. stocks stumbled on Wednesday after data showed the economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years, underscoring concerns about the impact of U.S. tariffs and the global trade war on worldwide growth.

Donald Trump was elected on a pledge to fix all kinds of problems confronting the US economy, from stubborn inflation to a long-term decline in manufacturing jobs. He’s already declared that he’s off to the greatest start of a presidential term ever.

Trump told a NewsNation town hall he's made no mistakes during his first 100 days back in office despite the shrinking economy.