Trump slams Nobel Prize-winning economist as ‘deranged bum’ after brutal takedown of his tariff plan
It seems like Donald Trump has picked up another critic, with the President of the United States once again being called out for his controversial trade tariffs. While the POTUS has promised to make America 'great again', numerous economists have questioned the mathematics of his tariffs.
As soon as Donald Trump announced the Liberation Day tariffs on April 2, they were caught in a swarm of controversy. Alongside some claiming they were created using ChatGPT, others have questioned how an uninhabited island populated by penguins and seals could be slapped with an increased tariff.
If wiping over $2 trillion off the stock market in just 25 seconds wasn't enough, others are rightly worried that the latest 100% tariff announcement against computer chips could ravage the tech industry. Still, Apple might've escaped Trump's wrath amid accusations it 'bribed' the President.
Before leaving his job of 25 years as an opinion writer at the New York Times, Krugman posted several articles criticizing Trump's economic policy.
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This included a September 2024 piece titled "Why Trumponomics Could Lead to Trumpflation" and a November op-ed called "People Are in for a Really Rude Shock' on Trump's Economy." While none of these pieces have been published during Trump's second presidency or since the Liberation Day tariffs were first announced, the President has continued his beef with Krugman.
Taking to Truth Social, a disgruntled Trump wrote: "Paul Krugman of the New York Times has been predicting Doom and Gloom ever since my great election success in 2016.
"In other words, he has been wrong for YEARS, as ALL markets have been hitting new HIGHS, and are now higher than ever before.
“People stayed out of the ‘BEST MARKET IN HISTOY’ [sic] because of this Trump Deranged BUM. Sue them!”
Both have exchanged barbs over the first half of 2025, and despite leaving the NYT, Krugman has doubled down on his musings. As well as accusing Trump of reversing "90 years of tariff reductions," Krugman has kept posting about Trump.
It doesn't seem that Krugman is too fussed by his new moniker, updating his Substack to read: "Professor, CUNY Grad Center, Nobel laureate and former columnist, NY Times. Also, according to Donald Trump, a 'Deranged BUM'."
His latest post is titled "The Political Economy of Incompetence." In this scathing takedown, Krugman cites Hannah Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism" and adds: "In her classic book 'The Origins of Totalitarianism' she explained why totalitarians — I know, Trump isn’t a full-on dictator, yet, but he’s clearly a wannabe — promote the incompetent.
Krugman concluded: "Arendt also explained, in advance, the Trump administration’s extraordinary hostility to research, the extraordinary speed with which it is destroying America’s scientific base."
While Trump continues to argue that his tariffs are for the good of the USA, Krugman isn't alone in his fears. Even if Trump thinks Krugman is a 'deranged bum', his thoughts on Trumpenomics have seen his substack become the #1 rising in US politics.