VDH: Is Fed Chair Jerome Powell Fighting Inflation—Or Trump?

The Daily Signal

News, Government, Politics, Daily News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

Victor Davis Hanson explains the long-running tensions between Jerome Powell and Trump, why Trump has dubbed him “Too Late Powell,” and the economic consequences for everyday Americans on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ The Wall Street Journal was forecasting a ‘stock crash,’ a ‘trade war,’ ‘uncertainty over tariffs,’ ‘anemic GDP,’ and all of the barometers… At that point, you would've thought that Powell, who agreed, basically, with the consensus of the economic media and most of the economists, why didn't he intervene in fears that they were right, that we were headed toward a recession and lower rates? Instead, he didn't do anything. “ Jerome Powell has been in this fight with Donald Trump. … And whether we like it or not, he's acting emotionally or angrily to Donald Trump. And he has been under threat of being fired. He does not want to show that he's going to back down and lose the independence of the Fed to the president. The problem with that stance is it really hurts millions of Americans.” 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com (0:00) Powell vs. Trump (0:17) Trump's Economic Argument (2:18) The Fed's Role in Inflation and Recession (2:47) Trump's Criticism (6:43) Powell's Independence and Consistency (7:19) Lessons for Powell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Ava from Vanta.
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0:17.0	So whether you're a startup going for your first SOC two or ISO-27,001, or a growing
0:22.1	enterprise managing vendor risk, Banta makes it quick, easy, and scalable, and I'm not to say
0:27.2	that because I work here. Get started today at banta.com. The chairman of the Federal Reserve,
0:32.4	Jerome Powell, has been in this fight with Donald Trump. He doesn't understand art of the deal
0:37.1	language. Donald Trump has called him too late Powell, criticized Donald Trump. He doesn't understand art of the deal language.
0:37.7	Donald Trump has called him too late pal, criticized him personally. He's dug down. And whether we
0:42.5	like it or not, he's acting emotionally or angrily to Donald Trump. So what is going on? The
0:48.0	argument from the Trump side is the economy does not show signs of inflation. If there is a fear of recession, they lower
0:56.3	interest rates and then people have easier access to money so that stimulates them to spend
1:01.6	and to acquire and then to avoid a recession. People had argued that the tariffs and a trade war
1:07.6	and gargantuan stock increases would create inflation.
1:11.6	Therefore, Powell had to keep interest rates high.
1:13.6	And the problem with that stance is it really hurts millions of Americans who are trying to buy a home. Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for The Daily Signal.
1:34.0	There's been a lot of controversy recently about the relationship between the chairman of the Federal Reserve,
1:40.5	Jerome Powell, and Donald Trump president. And the argument from the Trump side is that the economy does not show signs of inflation. People had argued, especially perhaps Powell himself, that the tariffs and a trade war and gargantuan stock increases would create inflation. Therefore, he had to keep interest rates
2:05.1	high at about 4.3, which translates into 30-year mortgages over 7%. On the other hand, Donald Trump
2:13.4	said there's no evidence there's an inflation, and we would like to get some stimulus to
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