Trump urges Fed Reserve board to wrest control of central bank from chair Powell
Fed chair Jerome Powell has been subjected to vicious verbal attacks by Trump for months for not cutting short-term interest rates
US President Donald Trump on Friday called for the Federal Reserve’s board of governors to usurp the power of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, criticising the head of the US central bank for not cutting short-term interest rates.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Powell “stubborn”. The Fed chair has been subjected to vicious verbal attacks by the Republican president over several months.
The Fed has the responsibility of stabilising prices and maximising employment. Powell has held its benchmark rate for overnight loans constant this year, saying that Fed officials needed to see what impact Trump’s massive tariffs had on inflation.
If Powell does not “substantially” lower rates, Trump said, “THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!”
01:21
Trump and US central bank chief bicker over bank renovation costs
Trump sees the rate cuts as leading to stronger growth and lower debt servicing costs for the federal government and homebuyers. The president argues there is virtually no inflation, even though the Fed’s preferred measure is running at an annual rate of 2.6 per cent, slightly higher than the Fed’s 2 per cent target.