Six years ago, President Trump shocked attendees at an exclusive economics conference held annually in Jackson, Wyo. by calling Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, “an enemy” of America, and likening him to China’s president, Xi Jinping.
Mr. Trump’s attacks came just after Mr. Powell addressed the world’s leading central bankers, current and former government officials and top academics, in a keynote speech on the economic outlook.
Mr. Powell is once again set to speak at the conference, which is hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, amid a new barrage from Mr. Trump. The threat this time, however, is much more than just harsh rhetoric.
The president and his allies are taking aim at the inner workings of the institution, going after its top officials in a bid to install their own loyalists at the central bank. The goal is to lower borrowing costs, which Mr. Trump has said will boost the economy, and to make repayments on the government’s debt less expensive. The White House’s strategy has pushed the Fed into a defensive crouch as it tries to keep its longstanding independence from the executive branch from being chipped away.
The administration on Wednesday broadened its attacks beyond Mr. Powell to Lisa Cook, who has served as a member of the Board of Governors since 2022. Mr. Trump called on Ms. Cook to resign after Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said his office had investigated Ms. Cook and found that she appeared to have falsified bank documents to obtain favorable terms on a mortgage. Mr. Pulte said the F.H.F.A. had referred the matter to the Justice Department for a criminal inquiry.
Ms. Cook responded in a statement that she would not be “bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.” But she said she would take “questions about my financial history seriously” and gather the facts.
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The post Trump’s Attacks on Fed Overshadow a Critical Moment for the Central Bank appeared first on New York Times.
