The Fed Chair and the EU Bazooka S5E10 01.26.2026

Today, our question comes from James, who lives in Olympia, Washington, and writes: I’d like to talk about money and trade. It is being reported that Rump approached Jamie Diamond about becoming the new FED chair. Diamond has said he rejected that offer.  Trump, of course, denies that the offer was ever made. I would tend to believe Diamond over Trump. Trump has also indicated that he would like to take the FED under executive control, effectively ending its independence. I’m pretty sure the panel sees this as a very bad idea. I’d ask that the panel stay with me, as I'll now be asking about something that seems unrelated, but could be if it all plays out. Trump is threatening a 10% tariff on European countries that don not support his Greenland takeover. The EU met and is talking about what they call a “trade Bazooka”. As I understand it, this policy would deny the US access to some EU markets and impose export controls, among other measures. So, here is my scenario: let's say Trump gets his way, the FED loses its independence, and the EU Bazookas the US trade. Could this entirely destabilize the US economy? Which would be worse, the FED losing independence or the EU Bazooka? If you could look at both issues separately, and then as a complete-scenario possibility.