(Washington) Donald Trump, now officially the Republican candidate for the November presidential election, could, if elected, let Fed Chairman Jerome Powell complete his four-year term, until 2026, he said in an interview with Bloomberg published Tuesday.
“I’ll let him finish, especially if I think he’s doing the right thing,” Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek, according to CNBC’s website.
Press revelations published in April had reported a plan by Donald Trump’s campaign team aimed at reducing the independence of the American central bank, notably by ousting its president.
Donald Trump regularly criticizes Jerome Powell, whom he had chosen to lead the Fed when he was in the White House.
Last February, he had criticized him for wanting to lower rates in 2024 to help the Democrats win the presidential election. He had also assured that he would not appoint him again to head the Fed if he were elected.
Even before that, when he was president, the Republican billionaire regularly targeted the Fed and Jerome Powell, who were not lowering rates enough for his liking.
He had then broken with the tradition of respect, distance and independence of political power vis-à-vis the monetary institute.
Jerome Powell has been at the helm of the US central bank since 2018 and his second term will end in 2026. His term as Fed governor, which will last 14 years, will end on January 31, 2028.
Democrat Barack Obama brought him into the Fed in 2012, to the board of governors. Donald Trump then chose him to lead the institution and the current Democratic president Joe Biden offered him his second term.