President Trump’s relationship with Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, has almost always been a tense one. Aside from some niceties shared when Mr. Trump announced Mr. Powell as his pick to lead the central bank during his first term in the White House, the president has rarely had a positive word to say about the Fed’s chair.
The strained nature of their relationship was on full display in the lead up to Wednesday’s policy meeting when Mr. Trump descended on the central bank for a rare visit last week and publicly squabbled with Mr. Powell over the true costs of renovations to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington
The renovations are just the latest in a barrage of attacks directed at Mr. Powell, who the president has called a litany of insults ranging from “stubborn mule” to “numbskull.” One of his favorite jabs is to refer to the Fed chair as “Mr. Too Late,” in reference to Mr. Trump’s belief that the Fed has erred by keeping borrowing costs steady so far this year rather than reduce them as the president has demanded.
With the Fed once again expected to stand pat on Wednesday and keep interest rates at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, tensions between two of the most powerful people in Washington is unlikely to ease any time soon.
At least for now, Mr. Trump has backed off his threats to try to remove Mr. Powell before his term as chair expires in May — a legally dubious strategy in its own right. But that weapon could easily be brandished again or Mr. Trump could resort to another tactic and announce his pick to replace Mr. Powell very early. That would risk muddying the central bank’s communications about the path forward for monetary policy, especially if the chair-in-waiting espouses very different guidance than the current chair.
Colby Smith covers the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for The Times.
The post Tensions Between Trump and Powell at Tipping Point Ahead of Fed Meeting appeared first on New York Times.
