Trump amps up feud with Fed over rates, accuses Powell of ‘playing politics’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a series of attacks against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, accusing the central bank chief of “playing politics” by not cutting interest rates, asserting he had the power to evict Powell from his job “real fast,” and looking forward to the day when Powell was gone.

Powell’s termination as Fed chair “cannot come fast enough”, the president said in morning comments posted to social media. Trump’s post also said the Fed should be cutting interest rates and called a recent Powell speech about the economy a “complete mess.”

He expanded in a later press appearance that reflected how the Fed’s decisions could weigh on the president’s fortunes. Interest rates on home mortgages and other consumer credit remain high, for example, and the Fed is likely to offer little relief now that inflation risks are rising in the wake of Trump’s tariff plans. “The Fed really owes it to the American people to get interest rates down. That’s the only thing he’s good for,” Trump said. “I am not happy with him. If I want him out of there he’ll be out real fast believe me.”

Trump’s pointed remarks about Powell echo the sometimes intense language used against the Fed chair in Trump’s first term. It pushes into an issue with the potential to rock global markets if the president tries to fire Powell because he disagrees about his monetary policy decisions.