Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen strongly criticized former President Donald Trump on Thursday, slamming his unpredictable tariff policies and their damaging effects on the U.S. economy.
In her first televised interview since serving under President Joe Biden, Yellen, now a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, spoke with CNN’s Bianna Golodryga and gave Trump’s economic handling a harsh review.
“I’m afraid I couldn’t give it a passing grade, I’m sorry,” Yellen said. “This is the worst self-inflicted wound I’ve ever seen any administration impose on a well-functioning economy.”
Earlier in the program, Golodryga highlighted how Trump and his team, including top adviser Stephen Miller, have harshly criticized the Biden administration, describing the economy they inherited as being in a “state of calamity and catastrophe.”
However, economic experts widely agreed that the U.S. economy was in a strong position under Biden and likely to continue growing unless disrupted by major policy mistakes.
Yellen pointed to an October 2024 article from The Economist that referred to the U.S. economy as the “envy of the world.”
She emphasized that Trump inherited an economy with solid growth, low unemployment, impressive job creation, and easing inflation — even if it hadn’t yet reached the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
“We had a very well-functioning economy,” Yellen said. “And President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to it.”
Her remarks came as the stock market tumbled once again, just a day after it experienced a historic rally triggered by Trump’s announcement of a temporary 90-day pause on steep tariffs, which excluded China.
Yellen warned that Trump’s escalating tariffs on Chinese imports, some exceeding 100%, could cause serious harm to both the U.S. and global economies.
“No one knows where these policies are headed,” she said, highlighting the uncertainty and instability surrounding Trump’s trade approach.
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