Trump blames ‘bad policies & leadership’ for manufacturing losses since ‘Bush 1’

President Trump took aim at previous U.S. administrations in a tweet early Wednesday, blaming their “Bad Policies & Leadership” for manufacturing losses and U.S. trade deficits.

“From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars,” Trump tweeted.

“Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. Bad Policies & Leadership,” he added.

“Must WIN again! #MAGA”

From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars. Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. Bad Policies & Leadership. Must WIN again! #MAGA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2018

Trump has ratcheted up his tough rhetoric on trade since announcing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports last week.  

The president has dismissed concerns the actions would spark a trade war, saying it would be “easy to win.”

“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,” Trump tweeted on Friday.

Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, announced on Tuesday that he is resigning amid growing rifts over the direction of the administration’s economic policy.

The U.S. trade deficit soared to $566 billion in 2017, bringing it up 12.1 percent over the past year and to the highest level since the height of the financial crisis in 2008, the Commerce Department said.

Imports sat at $2.9 trillion in 2017, above $2.3 trillion in exports.