Quote · The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Surfaces and Crashes Out at Presser
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Kevin Hassett's Factory Promises — and the Pre-Built Fed Blame
At 18:48 · chapter starts 18:03
Ben Meiselas catalogs the administration's ever-retreating factory job promises: first it was day one, then Q4 of year one, then Q1 2026, then end of 2026, and now Hassett is pointing to the second half of the year or 2027. Hassett's clip promises construction jobs now and manufacturing jobs once the factories 'turn on the lights.' But the more revealing part comes next: Hassett expresses concern that Federal Reserve board members are 'not going to be voting because they're patriotic, but rather because they want to get Trump' — drawing a direct parallel to Democratic Supreme Court justices he claims voted in a bloc against Trump. Meiselas identifies this as a pre-built narrative: when the economy underperforms, the administration will blame interest rate hikes by 'libs' at the Fed. The kicker: Jerome Powell, Hassett's implied liberal villain, is a Republican Trump appointed himself in 2017.
National Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett warned of 'libs on the Federal Reserve' who might raise interest rates to hurt Trump — pre-building the excuse for when factory job promises don't materialize. Ben Meiselas points out that Jerome Powell, supposedly one of those 'libs,' was Trump's own 2017 Republican appointee.
National Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett suggested economic benefits from new factories would materialize in the second half of the year, but factory jobs may not fully arrive until 2027 or 2028.
Kevin Hassett pre-emptively blamed 'libs on the Federal Reserve' for potential interest rate hikes that could undermine factory job promises, despite Jerome Powell being a Trump-appointed Republican.
Jerome Powell, whom Hassett implicitly grouped with Federal Reserve liberals, was actually appointed by Trump himself in 2017 and is a Republican.
JD Vance told a military audience that one of the reasons he wanted to be VP was so the Commandant of the Marine Corps would have to salute him — a former E-4 corporal. Troops did not appear to find it funny.
