Trump Hit by Harsh Blow from Fed Chair as Polls Reveal Fresh Weakness

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Donald Trump has been raging at Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell for weeks, demanding that he cut interest rates. But on Wednesday, the Fed declined—and worse for Trump, Powell delivered a blunt assessment of his tariffs, claiming they are “pushing up prices,” and that “near-term measures of inflation expectations have moved up.” Given that this comes right when more of Trump’s tariffs are set to take effect on August 1, and given that Powell is directly defying Trump’s fury, that amounts to a harsh blow for the president. Indeed, Trump is also venting his fury at various GOP senators for not doing his bidding. On top of all that, two new polls show his approval rating down to an abysmal 40 percent, with one finding his approval on the economy even lower. We talked to MSNBC.com columnist James Downie, author of a new piece on Democrats and the midterm elections. We discuss why Trump is weaker politically than he looks, why various dynamics look poised to make that worse, and why it’s high time for Democrats to start acting like it. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:16.5	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
0:34.4	Many are dismayed by the news that Texas Republicans released a new gerrymandered map designed to add five house seats.
0:39.9	No question, it is terrible news, but we think part of it is about trying to psych us out, about trying to get Democrats and liberals to fear that future elections are unwinnable.
0:46.2	What if the real story is that Trump is actually getting politically weaker and less popular?
0:51.4	The Federal Reserve Chairman just announced that interest rates will not be
0:55.5	caught, defying Trump's repeated explosions of rage at him. Trump fulminated wildly at
1:02.3	Senator Chuck Grassley to speed up judicial nominations, insisting Democrats are laughing at Republicans,
1:09.3	but Grassley doesn't appear to be budging.
1:12.1	Meanwhile, two new polls find Trump's approvals sinking to new lows and on the economy
1:17.2	is approvals cratering at exactly the moment when he's set to announce that his tariffs are going
1:22.5	into effect.
1:24.6	MSNBC.com columnist James Downey has a new piece arguing that Democrats shouldn't get overly spooked about the midterms right now, so we're talking to him about all this. Good to see you, James.
1:36.0	Good to be back with you. So let's start here. Fed Chair Jerome Powell just announced that the Fed isn't lowering interest rates. He said this.
1:45.3	Increased tariffs are pushing up prices in some categories of goods. Near-term measures of
1:51.2	inflation expectations have moved up on balance over the course of this year on news about tariffs,
1:56.7	as reflected in both market-based and survey-based measures. That comes just after Trump raged wildly in all caps on truth social that Powell must lower the rate.
2:08.3	He's been raging along these lines for weeks.
2:11.5	James, it seems like pretty bad timing for Trump that the Fed chair just said his tariffs are driving up prices,
2:18.5	right when a bunch of tariffs are set to go into effect on August 1st, which Trump is hailing his Liberation Day.
2:23.8	Your reaction to all this?
2:26.3	Certainly poor timing for the president. I think it's also worth noting that when Trump's
	...

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