Rupert Murdoch’s flagship business newspaper took a swipe at the Trump administration in an editorial examining a clash between the White House and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
After economists at the New York Fed published an analysis that found American households and businesses are bearing almost 90 percent of the cost of tariffs—and not foreign countries, as President Donald Trump has insisted—the director of the National Economic Council went on CNBC to hurl insults and defend the president’s controversial tariffs.
“The paper is an embarrassment,” Kevin Hassett, 63, said of the study. He went on to call the research “the worst paper I’ve ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve system” and suggested that the authors behind it should be “disciplined” for their findings.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board did not mince words when sharing its thoughts on Hassett’s comments, in a piece published on Thursday under the headline “The Embarrassing Truth About Tariffs.”
“If the tariffs are such an unambiguous economic and political winner, why is the Administration so defensive about them?” it asked.
“Clearly the White House is worried that voters might conclude this research aligns with their own experience.”
The board also pointed out that the New York Fed’s analysis aligns with other research that has been published by Harvard economists and the German Kiel Institute. “And with common sense,” it added.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that tariffs strengthen the economy without hurting Americans, arguing in a recent Truth Social post that tariffs have given the U.S. economic and national security.
“TARIFFS have given us Great National Security because the mere mention of the word has Countries agreeing to our strongest wishes,” Trump claimed.
The Journal’s editorial board argued that the administration’s response to the research “is a symptom of the political problem the White House is encountering from tariffs.”
“Thirteen months into Mr. Trump’s term and with elections looming,” it continued, “opinion polls show voters remain worried about the economy.” The president’s approval rating has continued to tank as voters become increasingly concerned, with inflation and the cost of living consistently registering as the biggest concern for Americans.
The editorial board suggested that the Trump administration may be seeking to warn Trump’s nominee to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Kevin Warsh, away from adopting a similar approach to that of his predecessor, who has regularly found himself in Trump’s crosshairs.
“Here’s a better idea,” the board wrote. “If your tariff policy is so unpopular that you have to bully the central bank into not talking about it, maybe it’s time for a new policy.”
The editorial is the latest in a long line of editorials published by the Murdoch-owned paper that have criticized the Trump administration.
The paper has previously published editorials criticizing Trump’s vendetta against Jerome Powell; his plot to seize control of Greenland by any means necessary, including invasion; his attempt to prevent the Gordie Howe International Bridge from opening; and his immigration policies.
It has also criticized senior Trump officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his crusade against Sen. Mark Kelly, whom the president accused of sedition after he appeared in a video reminding service members that they had a duty to disobey illegal orders.
The board also warned that Trump’s antics could cost Republicans dearly in the upcoming midterm elections. “It’s hard to know what Mr. Trump might do next, which feeds public anxiety,” it wrote, noting that “as his popularity ebbs, so does his political capital.”
Journal editorial board member Holman W. Jenkins Jr. also echoed months of reporting from the Daily Beast in an editorial published last month in which he suggested that the president “may be flirting with cognitive decline.”
Referring to Trump’s fixation on owning Greenland, Jenkins wrote that the president “needs therapy more than the United States needs to own the island to ensure its defense.”
“I’m perfectly serious. Once he started unburdening himself of his insecurities and traumas, he probably wouldn’t stop for a week. The world, and the U.S., would be better for it.”
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