Who is Mark Zandi, the Iranian-American Moody's chief economist whom Donald Trump accuses of downgrading the U.S. credit rating to Aa1?

After Moody's Ratings downgraded the US credit rating to Aa1 from Aaa, US president Donald Trump's team has pinpointed one man to blame- Mark Zandi.

Zandi, the Iranian-American, who is the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, came into the spotlight on Friday after Trump spokesman Steven Cheung wrote on social media platform X to dismiss his economic analysis as he accused him of being a long-time critic of the administration’s policies, according to Bloomberg.

Cheung said, “Nobody takes his ‘analysis’ seriously. He has been proven wrong time and time again,” as quoted in the report.


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Why Did Moody’s Ratings Downgrade the US?

Moody's explained its reasoning behind its move, saying, “This one-notch downgrade on our 21-notch rating scale reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns,” quoted Bloomberg.

So, Who is Mark Zandi?

Zandi leads the economic research at Moody’s Analytics, which is a subsidiary of Moody’s Corp, but Moody’s Ratings, which downgraded the US credit ratings is a separate group from Moody’s Analytics, as per Bloomberg.

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According to his LinkedIn about section, he had co-founded Economy.com, which Moody's acquired in 2005. Zandi is a director of the board at MGIC, lead director at PolicyMap, and a director of the Coleridge Initiative, as per his LinkedIn profile.

As per his about page on LinkedIn, the 66-year-old podcast host for Inside Economics, "testifies often before Congress and holds regular briefings on the economy for corporate boards, trade associations and policymakers at all levels."

He has authored two books, 'Financial Shock: A 360° Look at the Subprime Mortgage Implosion, and How to Avoid the Next Financial Crisis' and 'Paying the Price: Ending the Great Recession and Beginning a New American Century', according to his profile.

FAQs

How old is Mark Zandi?
He’s 66 years old as of 2025.

Did he comment on the downgrade?
Not yet. As of Friday evening, Zandi had not responded publicly to the Trump team’s criticism.