Trump suggested the head of Goldman Sachs should go to work as a DJ because of the duty outlook

US President Donald Trump has lashed out at investment bank Goldman Sachs and its CEO David Solomon days after Goldman said US consumers are likely to bear the bulk of the costs from imposed duties on imports. It's not the first time Trump has put pressure on analysts.

Donald Trump criticized a Goldman Sachs analyst report for claiming that duties imposed by the White House would fall on consumers. Trump said on his Truth Social page that companies and foreign governments pay for most of the import rates.

"[Bank CEO] David Solomon and Goldman Sachs refuse to give credit where credit is deserved. They made an erroneous prediction long ago - both on the market reaction and on the duties themselves - and they were wrong, as they are wrong about so many other things," the president wrote.

He suggested firing the analyst who wrote the report. This appears to be about the bank's chief economist, Jan Hatzius, according to The Wall Street Journal, although Trump did not mention his name. The president also recommended that Solomon, too, should be more involved in his hobby rather than his job.

"I think David should find himself a new economist or maybe just focus on his job as a DJT and not get involved in running a major financial institution," he said.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment to the WSJ on Trump's statement. The White House also did not respond to a request for comment.

On Wall Street, Hatzius is known for predicting the 2008 mortgage defaults and the severe recession that followed. Hatzius and his team were among those economists who predicted that Trump's trade policies would negatively impact the labor market, drive up inflation and slow U.S. economic growth. A Goldman report released on Sunday said that by June, U.S. consumers had paid 22% of the duties imposed, a number that could rise to 67% if the new duties recently imposed follow the same scenario as the previous ones.

This conclusion coincides with the estimates of other economists, notes WSJ. So far, a significant part of the duties have been paid by U.S. companies, notes the publication. In the current reporting season, such manufacturers as Ford and General Motors reported a serious decline in net profit due to the impact of duties. However, analysts believe that over time, the main burden will fall on American consumers and, to a lesser extent, on foreign countries, says WSJ.

Confirming those forecasts, data released Tuesday showed consumer prices stable but stronger-than-expected growth in a key measure of core inflation.

Trump's attack on Goldman was the second time in recent weeks that the president has lashed out against economists, WSJ recalls. Earlier this month, the president abruptly fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over weak employment numbers, saying the statistics were "falsified." This week, he said he intends to nominate A. Joe Anthony, chief economist at the right-wing conservative Heritage Foundation and a longtime critic of the statistics office, to fill the post. Already a candidate, Antoni has proposed suspending the publication of monthly reports and continuing to report only "more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data," Barron's reports.

Goldman economists have also been criticized by Trump's team before - last September, after they said a Democratic victory in the presidential election and in Congress would lead to a slight acceleration in economic growth, while a Republican victory could slow growth by half a percentage point, the WSJ recalls.

Now Wall Street is trying not to engage in a polemic with Trump, the publication suggests, as six major banks are bidding to participate in a possible initial public offering of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which is being prepared by the presidential administration. If the placement takes place, it could become one of the largest in history, and refusal to participate in it would cost the banks millions of dollars in commissions, says WSJ.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor