Trump’s dumbest trade adviser attacks fed chair for dumbest reason

President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, took shots at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday, saying he was part of a “partisan game going on,” by refusing to do Trump’s bidding.

“J. Powell—he's Republican but he's so anti Trump, it's, it's, it's unsettling. And I say that, just so I fill that out a little bit, if you look at the arc of Powell's decisions, everything he's done since he got appointed has been against President Trump. When he was in with Biden and Yellen, he was doing things he shouldn't have done, lowering rates too early and causing inflation. So they got to get their act together I hope I hope they, they find, some enlightenment in, Jackson Hole. But, I'm not betting my house on that." 

Navarro’s comments come just ahead of Powell’s expected remarks at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming on Friday. The appearance is likely Powell’s last major address as federal chair, before his term comes to an end next May.

Powell, like most economists, has been leery of Trump’s chaotic tariff policies, maintaining a cautious wait and see approach to setting interest rates—a position that has infuriated Trump and his billionaire allies.

Powell’s caution is now even more complicated as prices are spiking, the labor market is showing signs of slowing down, and key inflation markers are rising.

Navarro’s attack of Powell for refusing to bend the knee to TACO Trump isn’t surprising. His strange understanding of how tariffs function—including the false claim that they are “tax cuts”—have put him at odds with virtually all reputable economists.