Trump took questions at the White House this Monday, and when asked about whether his new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh might end up raising interest rates, Trump proved once again he's completely clueless when it comes to trade, tariffs and the economy.
He started off telling the same lie they keep repeating on investment in the United States, which is nowhere near the $20 trillion he touted here. Then lied about interest rates other countries pay before making the ridiculous assertion that somehow cutting off trade with other countries would make the United States $40 billion.
TRUMP: Our interest rates are too high. I think we're the leading country in the world — we're now an economic force like we've never been before because of what's happened.
We have the greatest investment ever made in any country, by many times over. We're now at over $20 trillion of investment coming in. No country has ever been there.
And since we're number one, we should have the lowest interest rates in the world. A lot of countries are paying lower interest rates only because of us — because they do business with us. If we wanted to, we could put tariffs on them — we have the right to stop doing business with them — and they'd go from a so-called elite country to a poverty-stricken one. So, in my opinion, we should have the lowest interest rates anywhere in the world, by far.
Someday, I think we'll be able to convince people of that. It's simple: take certain countries — I won't name any, but countries you'd consider great — and they're paying half a point. Half a point. But they make $40 billion a year from the United States. If they didn't make that $40 billion, and we don't need their product — and we really don't — then we cut off trade with that country, and we just made $40 billion. Do that with a few countries, and we become a big money machine.
We should have the lowest interest rates anywhere in the world — lower than any country. It used to be that way 30 years ago. Even when we weren't doing well, we had the lowest interest rates.
And the other thing — I say this a lot, but someday it's going to get through — in the old days, going back 25 years, if we announced good numbers, interest rates went down. Now, if you announce good numbers, interest rates go up, because they're so afraid of inflation. But what they're really saying is you can never step on the gas. We could have a GDP of 14, 15, 16, 20 percent, but every time we do well — every time we announce great numbers — they start talking about raising interest rates.
It's ridiculous, because success and growth do not cause inflation. Inflation is caused by other reasons. I'm not a fan of inflation, but it's caused by other things.
When we do well, they shouldn't have to raise interest rates. In many cases they should lower them. Why? Because we become a better credit risk. When we're doing well, we become a better credit risk, and when you become a better credit risk, you're supposed to cut rates, not raise them.
Someone remind him that thanks to him blowing up our debt and deficit, Moody's downgraded the US sovereign credit rating last March.
Trump: "We don't need their product. So if we cut off trade with that country, we just made $40 billion. You do a few countries like that, and we become a big money machine." 🙃
Quiet everyone! The moron who bankrupted himself 6 times - including in businesses where the product he's selling is highly addictive - is giving us advice on how debt and interest works.
The bond rate is in the 5s because no one believes these idiots can manage a $40 T national debt. Full stop.
For over 22 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but social media is limiting our ability to attract new readers. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.
We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
