President Donald Trump on Friday hailed roaring US economic growth as a "miracle," and said the quickest expansion in almost four years was a vindication of his economic agenda. With the size of the American economy now surpassing $20 trillion, GDP expanded by 4.1 percent in the April-June quarter, making the United States the fastest-growing of advanced country, according to a government report.
"We're on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years," Trump said in remarks at the White House. "Everywhere we look, we're seeing the effects of the American economic miracle." The second quarter acceleration came in part after the injection of stimulus and Republican tax cuts. But economists warned it could be a blip caused by temporary factors, including a one-off bounce produced by Trump's trade confrontation with China.
The robust results put growth in the first half of the year at just over three percent, matching a White House target and faster than the trend in previous years. Trump said the United States was "the economic envy of the world," and "As the trade deals come in one by one, we are going to go a lot higher than these numbers and these are great numbers."