Trump says he doesn't plan to remove Fed chairman Jerome Powell

Source: CNN Business

Published 12:38 PM EST, Sun December 8, 2024


CNN — President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview that aired on Sunday that he has no plans to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” Trump was asked if he would try to replace Powell.

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t see it,” Trump said. “I think if I told him to, he would. But if I asked him to, he probably wouldn’t. But if I told him to, he would.” Welker followed by asking Trump if he had plans to ask Powell to resign. Trump responded, “No, I don’t.”

The comments mark the first time since the presidential election that Trump has publicly backed Powell. In July, Trump said he would not fire Powell if he won the election and in November, a senior adviser to Trump reaffirmed that Trump would likely allow Powell would finish his term as chairman.

Trump, however, has threatened to remove Powell from his post on several occasions after the central bank raised interest rates in 2018 and even called Powell “the enemy” in 2019. In March 2020, Trump told reporters he had the “right to remove (Powell) as chairman” and that “he has, so far, made a lot of bad decisions, in my opinion,” after markets tanked amid the pandemic.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/08/business/trump-fed-chair-jerome-powell/index.html