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President Donald Trump raged against Goldman Sachs, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and even his former Treasury secretary as he defended his global reciprocal tariffs – and continued to promote claims its countries, not consumers, are footing the bill.
“Also, it has been shown that, for the most part, Consumers aren’t even paying these Tariffs, it is mostly Companies and Governments, many of them Foreign, picking up the tabs. But David Solomon and Goldman Sachs refuse to give credit where credit is due,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
It has become a long refrain for the president that others pay tariffs, despite the fact that the cost is typically passed on to consumers.
Trump posted multiple criticisms on his Truth Social account Tuesday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that inflation increased by 0.2 percent in July and by 2.7 percent for the past twelve months. Trump and economists are celebrating the numbers as they have beaten industry expectations and shown that tariffs have not led to massive inflation as some feared.
“Trillions of Dollars are being taken in on Tariffs, which has been incredible for our Country, its Stock Market, its General Wealth, and just about everything else,” he said. “It has been proven, that even at this late stage, Tariffs have not caused Inflation, or any other problems for America, other than massive amounts of CASH pouring into our Treasury’s coffers.”
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President Donald Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon in a Tuesday Truth Social post. (AP)
The data also showed that the core Consumer Price Index – which tracks inflation for everything except food and energy – rose by 0.3 percent and 3.1 percent in the past month. Trump also raged against Wall Street for its projections about tariffs, hitting Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, insisting that companies and governments would pay most of the tariffs.
“But David Solomon and Goldman Sachs refuse to give credit where credit is due,” he said. “They made a bad prediction a long time ago on both the Market repercussion and the Tariffs themselves, and they were wrong, just like they are wrong about so much else. I think that David should go out and get himself a new Economist or, maybe, he ought to just focus on being a DJ, and not bother running a major Financial Institution.”
Goldman Sachs released a report last week warning that U.S companies ate 64 percent of tariffs and consumers ate 22 percent of tariffs, which contradicts Trump’s claims about tariffs costing consumers. A Yale Budget Lab study found that Trump’s trade war would cost consumers about 1.8 percent more in the short term and the effective tariff rate would be 18.6 percent, the highest since the Great Depression.
Last week, Trump’s massive reciprocal tariffs resumed after he had initially paused them. Earlier this week, Trump said that he would once again pause tariffs on China for 90 days.
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Tuesday’s inflation data was better than expected and Trump’s team was celebrating the news. (Reuters)
Trump also criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Steven Mnuchin, who led the Treasury Department during Trump’s first presidency, for pushing Trump to nominate Powell in 2017.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” he said. “Steve ‘Manouychin’ really gave me a ‘beauty’ when he pushed this loser. The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board.”
Trump has pushed for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, arguing that the country’s economy is in strong shape and that it would benefit a rate cut. The Federal Reserve has largely kept interest rates steady as Powell has said the central bank needs to gauge the effects of the tariffs. Some have suggested that Tuesday’s inflation data will allow the Federal Reserve to lower the rate.
The president also suggested filing a lawsuit against Powell.
“I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings. Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!”
Trump and many in his administration have suggested that Trump could fire Powell for going over budget for renovations to the Federal Reserve’s office in Washington. Last month, Trump visited the Federal Reserve’s office, criticizing the cost. That led to Powell pushing back on Trump, saying that Trump included costs for a separate project.