'The Country Was Thriving': Joe Rogan Says That 'More Things Were Getting Done' When Donald Trump Was President — Unemployment Was Down, Regulations Relaxed. Is He Right?
Both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have garnered their share of staunch supporters and vocal critics. But economically, which president has done better for America?
Podcaster Joe Rogan believes the answer is clear: Trump.
"It looked like [Trump's] policies were actually effective, and it looked like unemployment was down, business was building, regulations were being relaxed, more things were getting done," Rogan said during a recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.
Rogan also commented on the ongoing Trump investigations.
"Now you have the intelligence agencies colluding to keep a guy from being president that was president during a time where the country was thriving economically," he said.
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When the episode's guest Patrick Bet-David asked Rogan whether Trump would get his vote, Rogan replied, "He'd get my vote before Biden."
"I never thought that Biden was going to make it — I never thought that he was going to be functional," he added.
Take a closer look at the performance of both leaders in the realms of unemployment and regulations.
Unemployment
When Trump took office in January 2017, the unemployment rate was 4.7%, continuing a downward trend that started after the 2007-2009 recession.
By September 2019, the unemployment rate had dropped to 3.5%, the lowest rate since December 1969.
But the landscape dramatically shifted in early 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of lockdowns and reduced economic activity, the unemployment rate in the U.S. surged to 14.7% in April 2020.
Following this peak, the latter part of 2020 saw a gradual decrease in unemployment as the economy started to reopen.
By the time Biden began his term in January 2021, America's economic recovery was well underway, and the unemployment rate had come down to 6.3%.
The trajectory continued under the Biden administration. According to the latest jobs report from the Labor Department, the unemployment rate was 3.8% in August 2023.
Regulations
Trump wanted to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, so his administration pursued a deregulation agenda.
The Trump administration rolled back numerous environmental regulations, including those related to emissions from power plants and fuel economy standards for automobiles. He also made efforts to relax certain banking regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, like those in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order that required federal agencies to eliminate two regulations for every new one they proposed.
Biden's approach is markedly different. One of his first actions in office was to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change. His administration has also moved to reinstate and expand environmental regulations and to focus on a clean energy transition.
In light of the bank failures in March, the Biden administration urged regulators to implement stricter rules on the sector. The proposed reforms include increasing liquidity requirements for mid-sized banks, annual capital stress tests and requiring banks to submit "living wills" — plans of how they would be wound down without stressing the rest of the banking system in the event that they fail.
Who's Better For Investors?
The stock market saw noteworthy fluctuations under both presidents, even though the overall trend was positive.
During Trump's four-year term, the S&P 500 went from 2,271 to approximately 3,800, marking an impressive 67% increase. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was considered a significant catalyst for stocks during the early part of Trump's tenure. While the market crashed at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, a rapid rebound followed.
Biden began his term with the S&P 500 at around 3,800. While 2021 saw a market rally, 2022 brought a significant decline as the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates aggressively to combat rampant inflation. Stocks are coming back in 2023, with the S&P 500 currently sitting at 4,450.
The stock market is inherently volatile and is influenced by a multitude of factors, many of which are beyond any president's control.
If you don't like such volatility, you might want to look into reliable income plays outside the stock market — such as investing in rental properties with as little as $100 while staying completely hands-off.
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Image source: Joe Rogan Experience podcast on YouTube.
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