Former President Donald Trump slammed Jerome Powell, arguing that the Federal Reserve chairman is planning to lower interest rates to aid Democrats in the coming election.
“I think he’s political,” Trump said, according to excerpts from an appearance on Fox Business that will air this Sunday. “I think he’s going to do something to probably help the Democrats, I think, if he lowers interest rates.”
Trump also said he would not offer Powell another four-year term in 2026.
Trump appointed Powell as the top Fed official for a first term that began in 2018. Powell was subsequently reappointed by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Trump notoriously criticized Powell while in office, pressing him to lower interest rates in defiance of the convention for presidents not to intervene in monetary policy decisions by the central bank.
Trump suggested in the comments released Friday that Powell would seek to give Democrats an advantage through lower interest rates. “He’s not going to be able to do anything. But it looks to me like he’s trying to lower interest rates for the sake of maybe getting people elected,” Trump added.
It was reported in 2018 that Trump had private discussions about firing Powell, but Powell said at the time he didn’t believe that Trump has the authority to fire him.
In 2019, Trump notoriously wrote that his “only question is, who is our biggest enemy” — Powell or Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The remarks indicate that the Trump campaign might attack the Fed during the campaign.
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Biden renominated Powell to lead the Fed in 2021, when the Fed was working to contain the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Fed held its first meeting of 2024 this week and opted once again to hold its interest rate target steady at 5.25% to 5.50%. The Fed has signaled that rates are at their terminal level and it will begin cutting this year, although when exactly that pivot occurs is unclear.
