Trump And Powell Reach Full Agreement By Rejecting Each Other’s Economic Policy

President Donald Trump declared complete harmony with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday after demanding immediate interest-rate cuts and receiving another explanation of why the central bank does not take monetary instructions from presidential social media posts. White House officials described the exchange as a landmark demonstration of economic unity, noting that both men used the phrase “interest rates,” remained in the same country and continued to recognize the existence of money.

“Jay and I agree completely that he should do exactly what I say, and he agrees that he will do something else, which is really the same thing when you understand economics at my level,” Trump said. The president added that lower rates would eliminate inflation, accelerate growth, reduce prices, strengthen the dollar, weaken the dollar and permit every American to refinance a yacht. Powell, continuing the coordinated strategy, reiterated that Fed decisions would depend on employment and inflation data rather than the volume, capitalization or decorative punctuation of White House demands.

Administration officials said the apparent contradiction reflected a sophisticated division of labor. Trump would announce that rates must fall immediately, Powell would explain that policy remained dependent on economic conditions, and the White House would cite the disagreement as evidence that the president had successfully pressured the Fed. If rates later declined, Trump would receive credit for commanding them downward. If rates remained unchanged, he would receive credit for identifying Powell as the sole obstacle to universal prosperity. If rates rose, officials said, that would prove the economy had become so powerful that it required emergency restraint.

The arrangement also preserved the Federal Reserve’s independence by allowing Trump to publicly order Powell around while Powell independently ignored him. Economists praised the framework for replacing uncertainty with three simultaneous certainties: the president is always correct, the Fed is always wrong and any eventual outcome was Trump’s plan from the beginning. Trump and Powell have therefore achieved total agreement, because the administration has officially classified disagreement as compliance.

* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.