Chief economist gives grim prediction about new Trump threat: 'Crisis will get worse'

Donald Trump's latest economic threat will backfire, according to an economist who said that, if the president follows through, a major crisis will be heightened.

Peter Schiff, a financial commentator and radio personality who has been raising alarms about America’s affordability crisis, weighed in over the weekend. Previously, Trump himself went nuclear when Schiff did an appearance on Fox News.

“Why would Fox and Friends Weekend (of all things?) put on a ‘Stockbroker’ named Peter Schiff, a Trump hating loser who has already proven to be wrong. Either the show made a mistake, or it is heading in a different direction,” he wrote in December.

But as it relates to foreign tariffs, Schiff says Trump is about to make a big mistake.

"Trump threatened to hit Americans with 25% tariffs on imports from countries that directly or indirectly do business with Iran," Schiff said, noting the follow-up effects of that move.

"Since China does business with Iran and nearly every country does business with China, if Trump follows through the affordability crisis will get worse," the chief economist and global strategist for Europac then added Sunday.

A user on X responded to Schiff by Asking Elon Musk's AI chatbot if the take was a correct one. Grok replied, "Trump did post on Truth Social in January 2026 that countries 'doing business' with Iran would face 25% tariffs on their US trade. He signed an executive order on Feb 6 formalizing this... China trades with Iran, so it could be targeted, which might increase US import costs if implemented."