The Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates to counteract the damage from Trump’s trade war: report

President Donald Trump has long been infuriated with his Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, who he originally tapped to replace Janet Yellen in 2017, allegedly because he was taller than her. The president has violated all decorum by trying to lean on the Fed to reverse their recent interest rate hikes, accusing the central bank of trying to slow down the economy.

Now, Powell is finally cutting interest rates. But according to Politico, it isn't because Trump demanded it. Rather, it's because Trump's trade policy is such a disaster for the economy that Powell has to resort to expansionary measures to keep things running.

"There is just no question that Powell has been 'Trumped' here,” said investment strategist Ed Yardeni. "Just read Powell's comments during his recent congressional testimony and trade comes up eight times in the context of weighing on the global economy. All Trump had to do was keep up geopolitical trade uncertainty for a while and he’d get the Fed to cut rates."

Trump has aggressively pursued an isolationist trade agenda, trying to bully America's international partners into renegotiating trade agreements by slapping them with harsh tariffs. As a result, global growth is slowing, consumer prices are rising, and American farmers are losing billions.