Wall Street Journal Warns of 'Biggest Threat' to Trump

Inflation helped get President Trump elected to a second term, but it also poses the "biggest threat" to his presidency from a political standpoint, warns an editorial in the Wall Street Journal. Trump, of course, is not to blame for this week's inflation report showing an increase for a third consecutive month. But the editors say his renewed call for the Federal Reserve to lower rates would only make things worse. Trump wrote that lower rates would work in tandem with his tariffs, but "the layers of intellectual confusion here are hard to parse, especially since higher tariffs will mean higher prices on the affected goods," says the editorial.

The Fed needs to be more cautious about lowering rates amid rising inflation, not less, it adds. The central bank under Jerome Powell "is likely to ignore Mr. Trump, and well it should," the editors write. Trump rose to power amid rising prices and "falling real incomes" under former President Biden. Now, "real average earnings are flat over the last three months as inflation has bounced up. If this persists, Mr. Trump won't have a 53% job approval rating for long." (Read the full editorial.)