U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a stinging attack on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying his “termination cannot come fast enough!”
In an early morning post on Truth Social, Trump rehashed long-held grievances about Powell’s leadership of the U.S. central bank, namely that he is not lowering interest rates quickly enough, and therefore failing to stimulate the economy.
There has long been speculation that Trump would try to remove Powell from his Fed position in what would be significant interference in an institution that has jealously guarded its independence. Powell has previously said that the president doesn’t have the authority to fire him.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank, which is aligned with the rules-based international economic order that Trump is set on overturning, came in for unusual praise from the U.S. president as he lashed nemesis Powell.
“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time,” Trump wrote. “[Powell] should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now.”
The ECB is meeting in Frankfurt on Thursday and is widely expected to lower its key interest rate to 2.25 percent from 2.50 percent.
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