Trump says he’ll let Fed’s Powell finish term if he wins: report
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump raises his fist during Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 15, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Donald Trump will allow Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to complete his term at the central bank if he wins the November election, the Republican presidential nominee said. Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview.
“I would let him serve, especially if I think he’s doing the right thing,” Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek. President Joe Biden has nominated Powell to serve. second four-year term as head of the Fed in May 2022.
Powell is also a Fed governor and he will hold this position until January 31, 2028.
The comments mark a change of heart for the former president, who had a strained relationship with the central bank’s leadership.
Powell took office as Fed chairman in February 2018 and has faced criticism from then-President Trump over interest rate policy for years.
Back in 2019, Trump criticized the central bank and its leader — even as policymakers triple discount that year, eventually hitting a target of 1.5% to 1.75% — citing the United States’ economic disadvantage relative to other countries with lower interest rates.
As recently as February of this year, Trump said Fox Business that he would not reappoint Powell to lead the Fed. “I think he’s a political person,” he told journalist Maria Bartiromo. “I think he would do something that would help the Democrats, I think, if he lowered interest rates.”
