US Federal Reserve: Trump: Central bank council should withdraw Fed boss control

After the recent interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve, US President Donald Trump continues his verbal attacks on her boss Jerome Powell. The Republican worked in a number of articles on his Truth Social platform to Powell in the morning (local time) and – like before – described him as a “stubborn fool”. At the same time, he demanded that the Central Bank Council should “take control” if Powell continues to refuse to “clearly” reduce the key interest rate.

The head of the Federal Reserve does not only make decisions about the key interest rate alone – the Central Bank Council is responsible for this. At the recent decision on Wednesday it was striking that in contrast to the previous session, not all members were behind maintaining the key interest rate. Two of eleven representatives present – Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller – pleaded for a reduction. Different voices rarely occur at the Fed.

Central bank council member Waller is said to be close to Trump. In addition to Finance Minister Scott Bessent, the US President should consider him as possible successor to Powell. Observers consider it conceivable that further members of the committee could settle the majority’s course in the next decision – not least under the pressure of Trump. The US President should speculate on this effect. The votes would “only get stronger,” he wrote at Truth Social.

Despite the vehement demands from the White House, the FED continues to keep the key interest stable – it is currently in a range between 4.25 and 4.5 percent.

Because Trump has not yet received what he is asking for, he has repeatedly sharply attacked Powell in the past few months and threatened to dismiss them several times. However, the legal hurdles for such a step are high. It is not legally clarified whether a US President can settle the head of the central bank at all. Powell’s term of office ends next May.