As the 2024 campaign heats up, former President Donald Trump – who is the leading candidate to be the Republican nominee – doubled down on previous statements when he told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo that if he is re-elected in November, he will not reappoint Jerome Powell as Chair of the Federal Reserve.
“No, I wouldn’t,” Trump said in response to a question about keeping Powell as Chair after his term expires in 2026 while being interviewed on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
The main reason cited by Trump is that he thinks Powell will lower interest rates in the coming months to help President Joe Biden get re-elected.
“I think he’s going to do something to help the Democrats if he lowers interest rates,” Trump said.
The criticism from Trump comes as concerns about rising prices and the Fed’s handling of monetary policy are under a microscope, with the central bank pushing back against rate cut expectations until they see meaningful progress towards their goal of 2% inflation.
Trump believes that Powell's approach has been too "political" and not always in the best interests of the U.S. economy.
In August, Trump said Powell was “always late, whether it was good or bad” with making policy decisions, and was surprised to hear that Powell had been reappointed.
When asked about who he would appoint as Fed Chair in Powell’s place, Trump said he has a “couple of choices” in mind, but refrained from identifying anyone specific.
As for why the stock market has hit record highs under Biden’s tenure if the current President is performing poorly on economic matters, he said, in true Trump fashion, “Because they think I’m going to be elected.”
