U.S. President Donald Trump denied a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that Treasury Secretary Scott Besant had advised him against dismissing Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, calling it a "typical lie."
On July 20 (local time), President Trump wrote on his self-founded social networking service, Truth Social, "WSJ continued its typical lies by reporting that Secretary Besant explained to me that removing 'too late' Powell, the worst Fed Chair in history, would not be good for the markets."
The WSJ had reported the previous day that "when President Trump considered dismissing Chair Powell for not complying with his calls to lower the benchmark interest rate, Secretary Besant discouraged him by mentioning the negative impact it would have on the markets and the economy."
President Trump stated, "No one needs to explain such things to me. I know better than anyone what is good for the markets," adding, "Without me, the markets would not have reached their current record highs and would probably have crashed." He further emphasized, "People do not explain things to me. I explain things to them." This remark by President Trump is seen as highlighting his tendency to make and execute decisions based on his own judgment, rather than relying on advice from those around him in all policy areas.
It also appears that he reiterated his dissatisfaction with the WSJ, a conservative-leaning economic media outlet. Previously, on July 18, President Trump filed a $10 billion (approximately 14 trillion won) defamation lawsuit against the WSJ, which had reported that he had sent a letter with obscene drawings to billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than 20 years ago, when Epstein was involved in the sexual exploitation of minors.
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