Trump’s Rage Erupts as Inflation Rises and His Pollster Openly Panics | The New Republic
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Trump’s Rage Erupts as Inflation Rises and His Pollster Openly Panics

As Trump downplays the new inflation numbers by venting at the Fed (even as his pollster delivers very bad news), an economist explains how he’s put us on a slow downward slide that will get much, much worse.

Donald Trump answers questions while departing the White House.
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On Tuesday, we learned that inflation rose last month. The New York Times said inflation “accelerated,” ABC News noted it “surged,” and other reports observed that President Trump’s tariffs are starting to produce long-predicted price hikes. Trump reacted angrily. He pretended the surge was nonexistent, and then deflected by unleashing a furious tweet at Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell that demanded: “Bring down the Fed rate NOW!!!” Trump then unleashed an angry rant to reporters further excoriating Powell. Trump might have also been ticked because his 2024 campaign polling firm just released a memo harshly warning that House Republicans are in trouble in the midterms, and Trump’s cuts to the safety net help explain why. We talked to economist Kathryn Edwards, a skillful decoder of Trumponomics. She explains the inflation news, why Trump’s perfect storm of policies is badly hurting working people, and how Democrats should respond by swinging big on the economy in ways they usually don’t. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.