Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 8, 2024.
Joe Reddell | Getty Images
republican presidential candidate Donald Trump On Thursday, he said he should have a say when the Fed makes interest rate decisions.
“I think the president should at least have a say there,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Florida. “Yes, I feel that strongly. I think as far as I’m concerned, I earn I made a lot of money, I was very successful, and I think in many cases I had better instincts than the Fed or the people at the Fed.
The comments appeared to reinforce reports earlier this year that From the Wall Street Journal Elsewhere, advisers close to the former president are considering a series of changes If he is elected in November, he will become central bank chairman.
One of the ideas currently being floated is to force the Fed to consult with the president when making interest rate decisions. Other steps include letting the central bank bypass the White House on regulatory reforms and using the Treasury Department as a watchdog for the Fed’s actions.
President Trump was fiercely critical of Chairman Jerome Powell, who was appointed in 2018, during his term in office from 2017 to 2021.
“Well, look, the Fed is a very funny thing. It makes a lot of mistakes, and he tends to be late on things,” Trump said of Powell and his colleagues. Powell was “a little too early and a little too late. And, you know, a lot of it was a gut feeling. I believe it was a gut feeling. I’ve had issues with him.”
Fed officials have often emphasized the importance of the central bank’s independence from political influence, and Powell has repeatedly said that criticism from Trump or other officials will not affect monetary policy decisions.
Trump insists he and Powell “get along very well,” although some of the changes his team is considering include firing Powell or at least not reappointing him when his term as chairman expires in 2026.
The Fed was criticized for waiting too long to raise rates when inflation began to soar in 2021, and now it faces the same scrutiny for not cutting rates even as inflation steadily fell.
For example, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has repeatedly called on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
The Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark interest rate by 5.25 percentage points from March 2022 to July 2023 to reduce inflation. The market generally expects the central bank to Start lowering interest rates in September. Trump generally favors lowering interest rates and has frequently criticized the Federal Reserve for raising rates in 2018.
