David Solomon is greatest generally known as the CEO of Goldman Sachs, however he additionally as soon as had a aspect gig as a DJ. He retired from that passion in 2023 to keep away from undesirable media consideration. Two years later, nonetheless, Solomon’s musical aspect gig has come again to hang-out him from an sudden supply: the President of america.
President Donald Trump’s criticism got here shortly after Goldman Sachs analysts launched analysis detailing the monetary influence of the administration’s tariff coverage on U.S. customers. “I believe that David ought to exit and get himself a brand new economist or, possibly, he ought to simply give attention to being a DJ, and never hassle working a serious monetary establishment,” Trump wrote in a Reality Social put up yesterday (Aug. 12).
The report, revealed Aug. 10 and led by Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius, discovered that U.S. customers had absorbed 22 % of tariff prices by means of June. The financial institution initiatives that determine will rise to 67 % when all proposed tariffs take impact.
Solomon and Goldman Sachs “refuse to present credit score the place credit score is due,” Trump mentioned. “They made a nasty prediction a very long time in the past on each the market repercussion and the tariffs themselves, they usually have been flawed, similar to they’re flawed about a lot else.”
Goldman Sachs declined requests for remark from Observer.
This isn’t the primary time Solomon’s DJ profession has sparked controversy. Performing underneath the stage identify “D-Sol,” he performed at venues throughout New York, the Bahamas and even at Chicago’s Lollapalooza Competition. Solomon stepped again from public performances after the passion was seen as a distraction from his management function at Goldman Sachs.
What do different banks say about tariffs?
Solomon has beforehand spoken out about Trump’s tariff coverage, warning that the levies had raised considerations amongst Goldman Sachs’ worldwide shoppers. A lot of Wall Avenue has voiced related unease. In April, after Trump introduced “Liberation Day” tariffs, JPMorgan Chase mentioned the chances of a world recession had risen from 40 % to 60 %. The next month, Citigroup analysts projected that world progress in 2025 would sluggish to 2.3 %, down from 2.8 % final yr.
Trump, nonetheless, defended the coverage in his current put up, claiming that “trillions of {dollars} are being taken in on tariffs.” In actuality, Treasury Division knowledge exhibits that U.S. customs duties totaled nearly $28 billion in July.
The President additionally argued that giant corporations and overseas governments—not U.S. customers—are shouldering many of the prices. But many companies have warned that tariffs will in the end result in larger costs, and a few have drawn Trump’s ire for saying so publicly. In Could, after Walmart introduced worth hikes, Trump instructed the retailer to “STOP making an attempt responsible Tariffs” and urged it to soak up the prices as a substitute.
To this point, U.S. companies have borne many of the burden, mentioned David Mericle, Goldman Sachs’ chief U.S. economist, throughout an interview with CNBC at present (Aug. 13). However, he added, it would take time for corporations to renegotiate import costs or move prices on to customers. Mericle additionally defended the financial institution’s analysis from Trump’s criticism.
“We stand by the outcomes of this examine,” mentioned Mericle. “We’re simply making an attempt to do the most effective financial forecast that we will for our shoppers.”
