BREAKING: GDP Grows at Strongest Pace All Year on Eve of Midterms

Republicans hoping for a strong closing economic argument heading into next Tuesday’s midterm elections got some welcome news Thursday as the White House announced that the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew in the third quarter of 2026 at its strongest pace in a year. America’s economy grew at a notably high 3.4% rate from July through September.

The last quarter’s growth is higher than analysts’ forecast of 3.2%. The White House explained that “private investment in plants and equipment surged at a 9.4% rate in the third quarter.” Investment is reportedly “growing more than twice as fast as it did in 2025 and three times faster than the weak 2.3% rate in Biden’s final year.”

Business investment additionally saw a significant boost of nearly 13%, the “strongest quarter in nearly 15 years.”

Fox Business host Charles Payne said that the GDP numbers were “phenomenal” when discussing the news.

“It’s phenomenal. This is U.S. exceptionalism. The majority of the gains came from investment, which is the key, right?” Payne said. “You know President Trump has made it the top of his agenda. Bring investments back. Bring manufacturing back. And it’s worked. It’s been absolutely phenomenal. The beat goes on. After that, the next biggest contributor has been consumers. And that's exactly what you want. So, you have consumers who are fully working.”

According to the White House report, the U.S. economy has grown at a 2.7% rate over the past three quarters, which is “faster than the Blue Chip consensus forecast (2.4%) and well above the Congressional Budget Office’s projection (2.2%).” The official White House account on X posted that “President Trump has garnered more investment in our country than any President in history — and the results are showing.”

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett explained on Fox Business that the economy has exceeded expectations under Trump’s leadership.

“Real output numbers have been outperforming analysts’ forecasts by a lot, and this is another example of that,” Hassett said. “We’ve got really huge 3% growth that’s headed towards 4% growth. The reason why it was like dragged down below even 5% was there were these massive imports of capital goods, which are going to produce future GDP.”

The White House further stated that “72% of the economists surveyed by Bloomberg underestimated today’s growth number, once again missing the strength of the Trump economy.” The report emphasized that the president’s “agenda of lower taxes, fewer regulations, energy dominance, and America First trade are fueling a historic investment boom that is powering strong growth.”

The New York Times also reported that consumer spending increased by 3.8% in the third quarter. The news outlet explained that the “A.I. investment boom” played a role in the economy’s continued growth, with companies investing hundreds of billions of dollars into infrastructure to support the growth of artificial intelligence this year. This investment boom reportedly has lifted “the fortunes not just of chipmakers and computer equipment manufacturers but also of companies seemingly far removed from the tech sector.”