Top Trump economist derided as ‘incoherent’ on tariffs after closed-door meeting with investors

Stephen Miran, pictured from the chest up, looks out to the left of the camera. (Credit: Al Drago—Bloomberg/Getty Images)

• Stephen Miran, who heads the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, reportedly failed to reassure bond investors about the president’s tariff plans. In a memo authored shortly after President Donald Trump’s election victory, Miran said a stronger dollar was key to making other nations bear the burden of tax hikes on imports. The greenback, however, is down roughly 8% year to date. 

The Trump administration has clear incentive to smooth things over with bond investors, who may have forced the president to back off his sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” earlier this month. But one of Trump’s top economists, who authored a tariff blueprint read widely on Wall Street, reportedly failed to reassure several leading fixed-income traders in a meeting at the White House last week.