President Donald Trump said Friday he will pick a Federal Reserve chair who wants to cut interest rates, escalating his criticism of current Chair Jerome Powell.
“If I think somebody’s going to keep the rates where they are or whatever, I’m not going to put them in. I’m going to put somebody that wants to cut rates. There are a lot of them out there,” Trump told reporters Friday.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell, whom he appointed in 2017, for the Fed’s decision to maintain current interest rates. The president’s latest comments escalate his ongoing pressure campaign against the central bank’s independence.
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“I’d love him to resign if he wanted to,” Trump said. He called the central bank chief “a stubborn mule and a stupid person” for not supporting rate cuts.
Powell, meanwhile, has remained resistant to the pressure and criticism.
Read: Powell Resists Trump Pressure for Aggressive Rate Cuts
“The FOMC’s obligation is to keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored and to prevent a one-time increase in the price level from becoming an ongoing inflation problem,” Powell defended his cautious approach at a House Financial Services Committee appearance.
Powell’s term as chair concludes in May 2026, though he could remain on the Fed board until 2028. He did not say whether he would stay on the board after the end of his term.
The tensions between Trump and Powell date to the president’s first term, when Trump repeatedly criticized the Fed chief he had appointed for not lowering rates quickly enough. Powell has previously stated he would not resign if pressured by the president, citing legal protections for Fed independence.
Earlier Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed talk of an immediate replacement for Powell, suggesting the president might announce a nominee as early as October or November.
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