RESET EXPECTATIONS: CNBC anchor who blasted Trump’s ‘insane’ tariffs is now shocked by ‘very, very low’ inflation.

Liesman has been among the most vocal critics of Trump’s tariff strategy (3). Back in March, he warned bluntly: “I’m going to say this at the risk of my job. What President Trump is doing is insane,” adding that “there’s no bounds around President Trump.”

But on Thursday, as he dug deeper into the latest report, even the month-over-month figures looked encouraging.

“I have not looked at the internals — I’ll look at them now — but it suggests that the internals are good as well,” he said. “Let’s see. … Seasonally adjusted index for all items, less food and energy, rose 0.2% over the two months. So correct my math here … but 0.2 divided by two is 0.1. So therefore that’s a very, very low monthly rate.”

Liesman wasn’t alone in his reaction.

Exit quote: “I think the president will take this as good news. The investors will think that interest rates will get cut more, so it was positive news — there’s no other way to spin it.”