JD Vance Compares US Economy Under President Trump to the Titanic (No Joke)

This is a picture of a magnet that was being sold at Strand's Book Store in New York City a few years ago. No, I did not buy it, but I liked it and took a picture, which I am sharing here now. 

 “You don't turn the Titanic around overnight. It takes time to fix what was broken.” 

~ U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance

This story could almost have been a "Weekend Funny" blog entry. Except this is not actually a joke. This actually happened.

Really.

Granted, the Trump administration is and always has been filled with gaffes and idiocies and just generally cartoon level buffoonery. But this one rather stands out, even taking into consideration all of those other competing idiotic episodes.

Vice-President JD Vance compared the American economy under Trump to the Titanic. Or maybe he was talking about the Trump presidency more generally.

Both are true, after all. Likening this Trump presidency to the Titanic is indeed an apt comparison. The Titanic sank, and the United States, under Trump, has been sinking badly and noticeably. That's a large part of why Trump's approval numbers now rank as the lowest of any President in American history I urge everyone to look it up for themselves for confirmation.

Many MAGA people insisted that Trump's greatest strength was his handling of the economy. 

Frankly, I was always skeptical of this, since Trump fixates on stock market numbers. That means that Trump seems to have no real grasp or understanding or concern, for that matter, of how everyday Americans are actually doing in this economy.

Still, there was this perception that he would be really good for the economy. That was a major part of the reason why so many people voted for him in the last presidential election.

Now almost two years later, the economy is horrible. In fact, it is worse than it was when Trump took over, regardless of whatever excuses Trump makes, or lies to the contrary. Inflation has gotten worse, and Trump now claims that he "loves inflation."

Of course, when you wage economic warfare on the entire rest of the world, all at once, then that likely will hurt the economy, not help it.

So now, a lot of Americans are finally waking up to the fact that Trump has been anything but helpful when it comes to improving the economy. In fact, a lot of his actions seem to be actively hurting it, including (but not necessarily limited to his continued tariffs, the war in Iran (which has greatly increased gas prices), the endless grifting of this administration, and his clear and obvious favoritism towards the very wealthiest and most privileged Americans with massive tax breaks and incentives paid for by the rest of us. 

If there was one supposedly saving grace that Trump provided, according to his supporters and defenders and apologists, it was that he was solid on the economy.

So what happened? It's been two years since Trump took over the Oval Office, and he promised a very quick recovery. But we have not seen any real recovery.

In fact, the economic hardships have grown worse, if anything.

That is why Trump and his Republican party are so unpopular at the moment. That is why they are projected to lose, and lose badly, in the upcoming midterm elections.

Of course, Vice-President JD Vance has been one of the main guys campaigning. And not too long ago, he made a comparison that became an instant classic in the already long yet still growing list of public gaffes by this administration.

While apparently attempting to make the case for why Republicans should be given one more chance to make things right again, Vance compared the situation with, of all things, the Titanic. No, seriously, that was his comparison. 

Here specifically is what Vance said that had generated many headlines and raised eyebrows.

"You don't turn the Titanic around overnight. It takes time to fix what was broken." 

Now, I have heard a number of people stating that Vance was talking about the economy under President Trump when he made this comparison. But let's get serious for a second here. He could have been talking about pretty much every aspect of this Trump presidency, often referred to as Trump 2.0. It has been a disaster of epic proportions. In an incredibly short time (although it has admittedly felt a lot longer), Trump's presidency has managed to basically destroy the goodwill and mutual trust that existed between traditional American allies and the United States, particularly in western Europe and Canada. After all, you do not win their trust by relentlessly blasting them verbally and threatening to militarily take over Greenland, or refer to Canada as the "51st state." You do not strengthen those alliances by catering to a dictator that those allies deem a threat, like Putin of Russia. You do not encourage a sense of stability by constantly flipping with on again/off again tariffs, or by having a president throw very public tantrums on any and every matter, whether relevant or not. You do not earn good will by starting a war without any warning or making a strong case beforehand, than blast our allies for not helping us out in that war when it clearly is going badly. 

Personally, I feel that the United States has gone a long way in a short time towards self-destructing it's own privileged status in terms of it's status as a respected world superpower. Clearly, far too many Americans have taken for granted that being a respected superpower actually requires working with other nations and actually trying to work with them in cooperation for relations which are mutually beneficial. Instead, we have been doubling and tripling down as a nation with Trump's way, which is to act like a whiny, entitled brat insisting that the rest of the world should feel indebted to us for...well, pretty much everything. 

Suddenly, many countries have become aware that they relied on the United States entirely too much. Now, they are taking steps to distance themselves from the United States and to make it possible to trade and work together, specifically working around the United States. This should be a major source of concern for all Americans. Yet, tens of millions of Americans still support President Trump regardless of how damaging his approach has been, and how compromised it has made this nation.

Almost everyone with any sense of truth and objectivity now seems to acknowledge that there has indeed been a noticeable and even a serious decline. For the United States to have diminished this much in such a quick span of time is, indeed, reminiscent of the mighty Titanic, deemed unsinkable until the captain was pressured to break all sorts of speeding records to achieve an imagined greatness that, in the end, led a disaster.

What an astute comparison by our very own Vice-President.

Did JD Vance compare US economy to Titanic? by Joey Esposito, Published Oct. 21, 2026

The vice president's comments resurfaced as polls showed Americans' faith in the economy was at its lowest in over a decade.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/vance-us-economy-titanic/

Did JD Vance compare US economy to Titanic? | Snopes.com