President Trump took aim at a Wall Street behemoth on Tuesday, launching a highly personal attack against Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and the firm’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, in the latest chapter of his ongoing dispute with mainstream business leaders over the impact of tariffs on the American economy. “I think that David should go out and get himself a new Economist or, maybe, he ought to just focus on being a DJ, and not bother running a major Financial Institution,” Trump wrote on social media. The dig referred to Solomon’s side project as a disc jockey producing electronic dance music and performing at clubs and music festivals under the name “DJ D-Sol.”
Trump’s rebuke—delivered through a pointed post on his Truth Social platform—came in response to a research note published by Hatzius on Sunday showing U.S. consumers are bearing a significant share of the costs stemming from tariffs imposed during Trump’s trade battles. “Our estimates imply that U.S. consumers had absorbed 22% of tariff costs through June but that their share will likely rise to 67% by October if the later tariffs have the same impact over time as the earliest tariffs,” the team led by Hatzius wrote.
Trump, however, flatly rejected Goldman Sachs’ conclusions, insisting “Trillions of Dollars are being taken in on Tariffs, which has been incredible for our Country, its Stock Market, its General Wealth, and just about everything else.” He claimed, without evidence, that it has been “proven” that consumers aren’t paying the tariffs, but rather companies and governments are “for the most part…picking up the tabs.”
The tariff trade regime does seem to be generating significant revenue, but it will take years to hit the trillion-dollar mark, as Trump claimed. A respected, nonpartisan budget-hawk think tank, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, calculated $25 billion in tariff revenue collections in July and projected a $1.3 trillion haul by the end of Trump’s term in office. In July, Morgan Stanley assessed the developing tariff picture as a “mosaic” that will bring in roughly $2.7 trillion over a decade.
Trump’s tactics
The clash over tariffs comes as inflation data released Tuesday showed consumer prices rising by 0.2% in July over June, and by 2.7% over the past year. Trump attempted to spin those numbers as evidence his trade policies have not stoked runaway inflation. “Tariffs have not caused inflation or any other problems for America, other than massive amounts of CASH pouring into our Treasury’s coffers,” he asserted.
The public lambasting adds Goldman Sachs’ Solomon to a growing list of corporate titans targeted by Trump, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Intel’s Lip Bu-Tan, and Tesla’s Elon Musk, all of whom have come under fire for perceived criticism of the Trump administration’s economic management.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump was attacking Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, after the consumer price index report for July showed inflation coming in cooler than expected—although “core” inflation surged to its highest reading in five months. “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social about the central bank chair’s refusal to budge on interest rates. He added that he is “considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed” because of an entirely separate issue: the ongoing, over-budget $2.5 billion renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Neither Solomon nor Hatzius has responded publicly to Trump’s broadsides. Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The White House did not immediately offer a comment, when contacted.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
