Former President Donald Trump frequently criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during his tenure, particularly for the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies. While there is no exact count of the number of times Trump directly threatened Powell, his public remarks, tweets, and interviews from 2018 to 2020 contained numerous criticisms and suggestions that Powell's job might be in jeopardy.
Here are some key instances:
- July 2018: Trump criticized the Fed for raising interest rates, breaking with the norm of presidential non-interference in Fed policies.
- October 2018: Trump referred to the Fed as "crazy" for its rate hikes.
- December 2018: Trump reportedly discussed firing Powell after the Fed raised rates again.
- June 2019: Trump publicly said he had the authority to demote Powell.
- July 2019: Trump suggested that the Fed should cut rates by 1% and restart quantitative easing.
- December 2019: Trump tweeted that the Fed doesn't have a "clue" after it kept rates steady.
