Trump Mocked for Claiming Tariffs Would Have Prevented Great Depression: 'Make Everyone Poor Again'

The internet wasted no time mocking President Donald Trump for claiming tariffs in 1929 could have prevented the Great Depression.

During his address at the "Make America Wealthy Again" event held on the White House lawn on Wednesday, Trump shared his version of what happened in the years leading up to and after the Great Depression.

"In 1913, for reasons unknown to mankind, they established income tax so citizens rather than foreign countries would start paying the money necessary to run our government," Trump stated.

"Then, in 1929, it all came to a very abrupt end with the Great Depression. And it would have never happened if they had stayed with the tariff policy," the president continued.

Trump added that the U.S. government tried to bring back tariffs, but it was gone, and it took "years and years to get out of the depression."

Social media users corrected and eviscerated Trump for his bold claim. One X user shared a clip from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in which a high school teacher explains the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act passed one year into the Great Depression in 1930. The act was meant to collect additional revenue for the U.S. government while protecting farmers and industries. Instead, it triggered a trade war and tanked the global economy.

X user John Poulson further elaborated on the negative effects of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.

"Our dear leader just claimed that the lack of tariffs was responsible for the Great Depression. The exact opposite is true. Smoot-Hawley which imposed tariffs exacerbated the Depression by restraining world trade and raising the cost of imported goods for American consumers," he explained.

Other social media users joked about the state of the world in light of Trump's new reciprocal tariffs.

"Make Everyone Poor Again, The great depression comes soon! And then WW3," @AvoiceofBihar wrote.

"Making America Poor Again...Taxes for everyone...except for the wealthy!🤔" another added.

Users also pointed out the stock market tanked as soon as Trump announced his tariffs, which CNBC showed in real time.

"Oh my god. At the exact moment Trump announced his tariffs the market crashed in real time. CNBC is SAVAGE for doing the side by side," @CalltoActivism shared.

"The stock market is now tanking as Donald Trump babbles about tariffs. Bravo, nimrod.🤦‍♀️" another user added.

Robert Reich, the former U.S. Secretary of Labor, shared a 1-minute video explaining how "Trump's tariffs will result in a massive transfer of wealth from working people into the hands of millionaires and billionaires." He called Trump's move "a scandal."

Others questioned why Russia wasn't included in Trump's list.

"Can anyone tell me why Russia is just about the only country — if not the ONLY country — that is exempt from Trump's tariffs? Anyone? 🤨" @joncoopertweets posited.

"Russia notably absent from Trump's tariff attacks," another user noted.

And one user shared a bleak prediction for what comes next.

"Here's the real kick about how Trump's tariffs are going to hike prices for everything: Once that happens, even if the tariffs go away, the prices are never, ever going back down again," @DC_DeWitt stated.

The baseline and reciprocals tariffs will go into effect on April 5.