The White House criticised Moody’s most recent decision to lower the US credit rating. Terming it a political decision, Mark Zandi was singled out as a critic to the Donald Trump administration. Taking to X, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump government and expressed his opposition overtly. He wrote how Zandi has “never been a Trumper since 2016”. This comes hours after Moody’s downgraded the US sovereign credit rating from the highest ”Aaa” to ”Aa1”.

“Nobody takes his “analysis” seriously. He has been proven wrong time and time again.” shared Cheung after accusing Zandi of being a long-term critic of the Trump administration. While there was no immediate reply from Moody’s, the landmark move has casted doubt on one of US’ highest quality borrower. The credit assessor noted that successive U.S. governments and Congress have been unable to agree on steps to curb the persistent pattern of large yearly fiscal deficits and rising interest expenses. It also revised its outlook from “negative” to “stable.”

While there has been no official comment from Zandi, downgrading the world’s biggest economy received this statement from Moody’s “While we recognize the US’ significant economic and financial strengths, we believe these no longer fully counterbalance the decline in fiscal metrics.” Based on the rationale of debt, the credit rating agency added, “the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.” 

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The drop in the credit rating from the highest investment-grade position puts Moody’s at par with Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. Stephen Moore, former senior economic advisor to Trump and an economist at Heritage Foundation, called the move “outrageous”. “If a US backed government bond isn’t triple A-asset then what is?” as per Reuters.

Thomas Massie, a representative from the US government reiterated his “prediction” on X, “Successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs”

Moody’s downgrade has reignited political and economic tensions, drawing sharp criticism from both the White House and Trump allies, while also exposing deep-rooted fiscal challenges facing the U.S. government. As debates intensify over fiscal responsibility and partisan influence on financial outlooks, the downgrade serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for long-term consensus and reform to restore investor confidence in the world’s largest economy.