President Trump is heading into Christmas with a shiny red bow on the economy, and Democrats have gotten a big fat lump of coal. The Commerce Department’s long-awaited report shows that the U.S. GDP surged 4.3% in the third quarter, blowing away expectations and making it clear, once again, that betting against Trump is a losing game.
Republicans wasted no time reminding everyone that the Schumer Shutdown had held up this blockbuster report. The numbers finally dropped Tuesday, which also happens to be Festivus, an alternative holiday popularized by the sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s.
As Seinfeld depicted, the deliberately non-commercial holiday is celebrated on December 23 and centers on a Festivus dinner and an unadorned aluminum pole, chosen for its high strength-to-weight ratio. The rituals include the famous “airing of grievances,” and the “feats of strength.” As Frank Costanza, portrayed by Jerry Stiller, says in the classic episode, it’s “a Festivus for the rest of us.”
The economic news came just in time for Donald Trump to begin the airing of grievances against the Democrats, who have been dumping on the Trump economy all year.
On Truth Social, he laid out the facts: “Q3 GDP came in at 4.3 percent, BLOWING PAST expectations of 3.2 percent. 60 of 61 Bloomberg Economists got it WRONG, but ‘TRUMP,’ and some other Geniuses, got it right.” He then credited the success to his policies.
“The SUCCESS is due to Good Government, and TARIFFS,” he said. “Consumer spending is STRONG, Net Exports are WAY UP, imports and Trade Deficits are WAY DOWN, and there is NO INFLATION!” Then came a flourish only Trump could deliver: “Because of my Tax Bill (THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL) and TARIFFS, INVESTMENT IS SETTING RECORDS. The Trump Economic Golden Age is FULL steam ahead — ‘You haven’t seen anything yet!’”
For context, the 4.3% figure is the best since the third quarter of 2023. The year started rocky with a slight contraction in Q1, rebounded to 3.8% in Q2, and then skyrocketed in Q3.
Related: New GDP Numbers Just Dropped, and Democrats Should Be Freaking Out
The airing of grievances continued in a separate post blasting Federal Reserve “eggheads” who, he says, use interest rate hikes to punish success. He complained that in the “Modern Market,” good news makes stocks “stay even, or go down” because investors fear the Fed will raise rates over “potential” inflation.
He declared, “I want my new Fed Chairman to lower Interest Rates if the Market is doing well, not destroy the Market for no reason whatsoever,” arguing that “Strong Markets, even phenomenal Markets, don’t cause Inflation, stupidity does!” Trump insists that “Inflation will take care of itself and, if it doesn’t, we can always raise Rates at the appropriate time,” and turns his doctrine into a litmus test with a warning: “Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!”
The GDP numbers come on the heels of another pleasant surprise: inflation dropping more than expected.
In short, while Democrats keep chanting “chaos,” the numbers keep telling a very different story — one of growth, energy, and renewal under a president who seems to do his best work when everyone assumes he’s finished. Call it the political equivalent of the Festivus miracle, but in reality, it’s Trump doing what Trump does. And you can bet that the feats of strength, where the Trump economy continues to defy his critics, will continue.
