Powell was initially nominated by Trump in 2017 and was appointed to another four-year term by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022.
President Donald Trump attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday for not cutting interest rates and said he could fire him if he wanted to, renewing a threat from his first term that could cause a major legal showdown over the issue of the central bank라이브 바카라 long-standing political independence.
“If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me,” Trump said in the Oval Office while taking questions from reporters during a visit with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I’m not happy with him.”
Trump라이브 바카라 comments followed a posting on his social media site in which the Republican president called on Powell to lower the Fed라이브 바카라 short-term interest rate and said, “Powell라이브 바카라 termination cannot come fast enough!” The Fed chair라이브 바카라 term ends in May 2026.
Powell was initially nominated by Trump in 2017 and was appointed to another four-year term by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022. At a November news conference, Powell indicated he would not step down if Trump asked him to resign and, in remarks Wednesday, made clear that “our independence is a matter of law.” He added: “We’re not removable except for cause. We serve very long terms, seemingly endless terms.”
Trump라이브 바카라 criticism stems from his view that, as he said Thursday, “we have essentially no inflation.” The Fed sharply raised rates in 2022 and 2023 to slow borrowing and spending and tame inflation, which dropped steadily from a peak of 9.1% in 2022 to 2.4% last month. Inflation is not far from the Fed라이브 바카라 target of 2%. The Fed even cut rates three times at the end of last year.
But since then, Powell and most other Fed policymakers have underscored that they are keeping rates on hold because of the uncertainty created by Trump라이브 바카라 sweeping tariffs, including a 10% tax on all imports and a 145% levy on imports from China.
In remarks Wednesday in Chicago, Powell reiterated that the Fed was waiting for greater clarity before making any moves and said the tariffs would likely worsen inflation.
Powell has steadfastly maintained that the Fed is independent from politics, a stance that Fed chairs have stressed since at least the 1970s. Back then, the Fed was widely seen as worsening a 15-year run of high inflation by giving in to demands from President Richard Nixon to keep interest rates low in the run-up to the 1972 election.
Economic research has suggested an independent central bank is more likely to keep inflation in check because it is more willing to do unpopular things, such as lift interest rates, to fight rising prices. Wall Street investors also largely prefer an independent Fed, though the stock market did not appear to react to Trump라이브 바카라 comments.
Powell said Wednesday that the Fed will base its decisions solely on what라이브 바카라 best for all Americans.
“That라이브 바카라 the only thing we’re ever going to do,” Powell said. “We’re never going to be influenced by any political pressure.”
He also suggested that the central bank will focus on fighting inflation in the wake of the tariffs, which would likely mean they would keep rates elevated.
Trump complained that interest rates are still rising “because we have a Federal Reserve chairman that is playing politics.” Yet longer-term rates rose after Trump announced his trade penalties.