President Donald Trump of the United States publicly criticized David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, and demanded a replacement of the company's economist. As he intervenes unilaterally in organizations that release statistics or forecasts unfavorable to his policies, as well as in companies that defy his wishes, concerns are mounting on Wall Street.
On August 12 (local time), President Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to target CEO Solomon, stating, "David Solomon and Goldman Sachs are not making fair assessments," and added, "They made incorrect predictions about tariffs and their impact on the market a long time ago, and those predictions, like many of their other assessments, were wrong."
He continued, "I think David should either hire a new economist, or just focus on his DJ activities and stop worrying about running a major financial institution," mocking Solomon for his side career as a DJ.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that although President Trump did not specifically mention an economist by name, his remarks were interpreted as being directed at Chief Economist Jan Hatzius. Hatzius is well-known for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis. Hatzius's team has forecast that tariff policies will erode the labor market, increase inflation, and slow U.S. economic growth. These forecasts are similar to analyses by other economists.
In a report released on August 10, Hatzius's team analyzed that U.S. consumers bore 22% of tariff costs through June, but if recent tariffs follow the same pattern as before, consumers could ultimately bear as much as 67% of the costs.
On Truth Social, President Trump asserted, "Tariffs have generated trillions of dollars, and this has had an enormous impact on our country, the stock market, national wealth, and almost everything else," and claimed, "It has now been proven, even at this late stage, that tariffs have not caused inflation or any other problems." He further stated, "It has also been confirmed that, for the most part, consumers are not bearing these tariffs," and added, "In most cases, the costs are being absorbed by companies and governments, with a significant portion being paid by foreign entities."
This is the second time in the past two weeks that President Trump has publicly criticized economic experts who hold views different from his own. Previously, citing weak employment statistics, President Trump fired Erica Groshen, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and nominated Dr. E. J. Antoni, Chief Economist at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, as her successor.
In addition, President Trump has called for the dismissal of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger over China-related concerns, demanded that Coca-Cola use American-grown cane sugar, and told automakers and Walmart to absorb the costs of tariffs.
The WSJ reported that Wall Street analysts are concerned that their economic analyses could become targets if they do not align with President Trump's views.
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