• Trump accused Fed Chair Powell of making politically motivated decisions on interest rates.
  • He said Powell is considering interest rate cuts this year to help Democrats.
  • Powell has emphasized he does not have a role in policymaking and will continue to weigh economic data.

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The head of the nation’s central bank isn’t getting former President Donald Trump’s stamp of approval.

On a Friday morning interview with Fox News, Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s handling of the economy, particularly regarding interest rates. While Powell has previously maintained his position does not have anything to do with policymaking, Trump accused the bank’s chair of being “political,” and making decisions that will help Democrats in the upcoming elections.

“I think he’s going to do something to probably help the Democrats, I think, if he lowers interest rates,” Trump said, adding that “it looks to me like he’s trying to lower interest rates for the sake of maybe getting people elected.”

    • vinniep@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Exactly - In Trump’s mind, that means Powell owes him and should only be making moves that help Trump get re-elected. The fact that it is or isn’t the right move is of no consequence. He expects loyalty above all else.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Also, the Fed has been saying “we’ll lower it when inflation gets close to our 2% target”

      This time last year we were around 6-7%, now we’re around 3 and a quarter.

  • DogPeePoo@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    Forget the “left” or the “right”, Powell is there to aid the affluent with wealth preservation as his overarching goal while fucking the everyday citizen right in the asshole

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Which is what both major political parties want.

      Biden is 1000x better than trump, but if this is the best we can do, we’re fucked as a country.

      Wealth is going to keep concentrating and both parties are going to care less and less about democracy.

      The DNC is just a decade or two behind the RNC. And as long as the only standard for a Dem is “better than the current republican” both will keep going down the shitter at the same rate, one is just starting from a lower position

      • forrgott@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Ugh. I hate that I agree with you. Nothing personal, of course! I just wish there was more to be optimistic about in regards to American politics.

        I find I agree more and more with those that encourage people to get involved with local politics. It’s such a long shot, but if there’s any chance at fixing things from within the current system, it has to be at a local level.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          but if there’s any chance at fixing things from within the current system, it has to be at a local level.

          Ask any blue city in a red state if local is enough…

          That’s where the solution starts, but this is like climate change. We’re not going to fix it overnight, it’s going to take decades of hard work and we’re going to have to keep working to maintain it or it’ll just happen again later.

          We gotta try, but we need to be honest about how hard it is and how long it will take.

  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    And when we cut the interest rates to basically 0 under Trump that was to…

    to help…

    Jesus what party was in power then… fuck its like I’ve got a 4 year brown out.

  • Wrench@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Every accusation is a projection.

    So many of my business/econ friends called me an idiot when I told them part of our housing crisis is due to Trump keeping interest rates ridiculously low well after the it was needed to recover from the recession.

    Cheap interest rates basically free money, because it’s trivial to get a higher return on even conservative investments.

    Naturally, a large portion of this money ended up in the real estate market as a “safe” investment.

    Ohh, and what a coincidence. The sitting president happens to be a real estate mogul.

    And I was resoundingly told that I have no clue what I’m talking about by the B.A.s. “Don’t you even know that the fed interest rates are not controlled by the president? Lollllll what an idiot”

    Guess they don’t teach extremely obvious corruption in college.

  • lobut@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    His claim was that the economy was doing well because people were expecting Trump to be re-elected. Fox News was parroting that.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    On a Friday morning interview with Fox News, Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s handling of the economy, particularly regarding interest rates.

    While Powell has previously maintained his position does not have anything to do with policymaking, Trump accused the bank’s chair of being “political,” and making decisions that will help Democrats in the upcoming elections.

    Trump’s remarks come after the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday decided to continue its pause on interest rate hikes in its first move of 2024.

    Powell has frequently emphasized that economic data will drive the committee’s interest rate decisions over the course of the year, and he said it’s important to move cautiously so as not to risk doing too little too soon.

    However, some Democratic lawmakers have been urging Powell to consider cutting interest rates sooner rather than later to give Americans financial relief.

    Elizabeth Warren, John Hickenlooper, Jacky Rosen, and Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to Powell saying that “interest rates are still too high for many American families, who already cannot afford to pay rent or buy their first homes.”


    The original article contains 429 words, the summary contains 181 words. Saved 58%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!