by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
I
wonder
how
many
times
Donald
Trump
will
say
something
that
massively
moves
the
stock
market
only
to
say
the
exact
opposite
thing
a
few
days
(or
hours)
later,
spurring
a
massive
market
recovery.
Perhaps
traders
will
eventually
figure
out
that,
hey,
the
dude
lies
a
lot.
On
Monday,
Trump
called
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell
a
“major
loser,”
following
up
on
his
threat
from
last
Thursday
seeking
Powell’s
“termination”
for
not
cutting
interest
rates
quickly
enough.
The
stock
market
tanked.
The
Fed
is
an
independent
agency.
Trump
himself
first
appointed
Powell
in
2018.
Then
there
is
the
little
matter
of
the
90-year-old
Supreme
Court
precedent
that
says
the
opposite
of
Trump’s
claim
that
“if
I
want
him
out,
he’ll
be
out
of
there
real
fast,
believe
me.”
Certainly
some
obstacles
stand
in
the
way
of
Trump
trying
to
fire
Powell,
like
the
fact
that
it
would
be
illegal,
though
Trump
has
done
crazier
shit
in
the
past
and
gotten
away
with
it.
But
whoa,
slow
down
a
minute
there,
hoss,
because
on
Tuesday
evening
the
same
Trump
said
he
had
“no
intention”
of
firing
Powell.
When
pressed
while
speaking
at
the
Oval
Office
on
whether
he
had
plans
to
remove
Powell
from
his
Federal
Reserve
position,
Trump
said,
“None
whatsoever.”
Stock
futures
surged.
This
tactic
has
become
the
monkey
wrench
of
Trump’s
political
toolbox:
say
one
thing,
then
say
the
exact
opposite.
One
or
the
other,
the
first
thing
or
its
opposite,
will
obviously
eventually
take
place,
then
Trump
can
point
to
whichever
of
his
positions
turned
out
to
be
accurate
so
he
can
bask
in
having
been
right
all
along.
He’ll
ignore
the
inaccurate
statement,
knowing
that
he’s
flooded
the
airwaves
with
so
much
disinformation
that
it
will
never
filter
through
to
his
dumbass
base,
and
will
call
anyone
who
brings
the
inconsistency
up
a
lunatic.
This
time,
I
believe
the
second
thing.
I
don’t
think
Trump
has
any
intention
of
trying
to
fire
Jerome
Powell.
For
one
thing,
that
would
be
hard
and
might
cut
into
golf
time.
More
importantly,
Trump
is
just
smart
enough
to
realize
that
a
politically
captured
Fed
is
as
bad
for
him
as
for
anyone.
The
Fed
can
stem
inflation
by
raising
interest
rates
or
can
spur
economic
growth
by
lowering
them.
Trump’s
tariffs
are
set
to
massively
increase
prices
for
consumers
at
the
same
time
as
his
trade
war
is
slowing
global
growth.
The
Fed
cannot
simultaneously
fight
inflation
and
attempt
to
prop
up
growth.
However,
if
the
Fed
really
lowered
interest
rates
more
quickly,
like
Trump
was
yelling
at
them
to
last
week,
consumers
very
well
could
face
a
double-whammy
price
hike
for
everyday
goods
from
both
the
tariffs
(a
tax
increase)
and
an
overheating
economy.
What
do
you
think
working
class
Americans
are
more
likely
to
notice:
a
large
increase
in
the
cost
of
things
they
buy
every
day,
or
a
1%
slowdown
in
quarterly
GDP
growth?
Trump
can
yell
online
about
how
the
Fed
should
lower
interest
rates
sooner
all
he
wants,
I
don’t
buy
it.
He’s
an
actor
—
you
didn’t
really
think
“The
Apprentice”
was
actually
anything
remotely
close
to
reality,
did
you?
Trump
wants
interest
rates
to
stay
up
there
for
a
while.
That
could
absorb
some
of
the
inflationary
blow
he’s
dealing
the
American
working
class
with
his
trade
war.
Meanwhile,
if
he
loses
too
much
support
on
the
economy
he
can
blame
the
Fed,
knowing
his
hardcore
base
does
not
have
an
advanced
enough
understanding
of
what
the
Fed
does
to
point
out
why
that
does
not
make
sense,
even
if
any
of
them
had
the
spine
to
contradict
him,
which
they
don’t.
Then,
when
the
Fed
does
cut
rates
again
—
which
almost
everyone
expects
to
happen
at
least
once
and
probably
multiple
times
before
the
end
of
the
year
—
Trump
can
point
to
the
crazy
threats
he
made
on
Truth
Social
and
take
credit
for
the
Fed
bending
under
the
toughness
of
his
onslaught.
While
I
could
be
wrong,
I
don’t
think
Trump
is
actually
going
to
try
to
fire
Powell.
Trump,
like
he
always
does,
is
going
to
try
to
have
it
both
ways.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD
(affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].