Report: Trump says he would let Fed chief Powell end his time period if he gained the election
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump raises his fist on the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, July 15, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Donald Trump will allow Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to end his term at the central bank if he wins the election in November, the Republican presidential candidate said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.
“I would let him sit out the term, especially if I thought he was doing the right thing,” Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek. President Joe Biden nominated Powell for a second four-year term as Fed chair in May 2022.
Powell is also governor of the Fed and will hold that position until January 31, 2028.
These comments mark a turnaround by the former president, whose relationship with the central bank chief had long been strained.
Powell took over as Fed chief in February 2018 and has faced criticism from then-President Trump over the years for his interest rate policy.
As early as 2019, Trump criticized the Federal Reserve and its chief – even as policymakers cut interest rates three times that year, eventually to a target range of 1.5 to 1.75 percent – arguing that the U.S. was at an economic disadvantage compared to other countries with lower interest rates.
Just this February, Trump told Fox Business he would not reappoint Powell as Fed chairman. “I think he's political,” he told journalist Maria Bartiromo. “I think he's going to do something that will probably help the Democrats if he lowers interest rates.”
Read the Bloomberg Businessweek article here.
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