- After touting the stock market during his presidency, Donald Trump complained that the stock market enriched the wealthy.
- President Biden poked fun at President Trump's crash warnings, which characterized this year's stock market rally.
- Many Americans don't personally own stocks, and the ultra-wealthy benefit more from market gains.
Donald Trump sees the stock market's rapid growth as a glorious accomplishment during his presidency, but as a symbol of growing wealth inequality when he's not.
“The stock market is making the rich even richer,” the former US president, who is up for re-election next year, told a rally in Nevada this week, according to Reuters.playing cards often crowded While he talked about the progress of stocks during his presidency, he changed his tune during President Biden's tenure.
Major stock indexes fell in 2022, but have rebounded significantly this year. The benchmark S&P 500 index rose 24% to a near record level, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 43% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13% to a new all-time high.
Mr. Biden praised the strong performance by posting: campaign advertisement Last week at X. It began with a video of President Trump warning in 2020 that, “If Biden wins, there will be a stock market crash like we've never seen before.'' The video then cut to Biden smiling as cable news commentators praised the impressive rally.
“Good job, Donald,” Biden wrote.
It's worth noting that many Americans don't personally own stocks. That means you only benefit indirectly from market gains, such as by increasing your retirement account. President Trump is not wrong when he says that high stock prices will make the wealthy rich.
The world's 10 richest people earned an estimated cumulative net worth of $470 billion this year, bringing their total wealth to nearly $1.5 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Their wealth has soared mainly because they own large amounts of shares in listed companies whose stock prices have soared this year.
For example, shares in Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway account for more than 98% of the investor's $119 billion net worth. Berkshire stock is up 15% this year, making Buffett $12 billion richer on paper, even though he has donated $5.5 billion of his stock to charity.
It's no surprise that Trump would seek to downplay the stock market when Biden actively points to it as evidence of his success as president. It may not be surprising that if Trump is re-elected, he would return to his previous stance on stocks.
