Trump Slams Biden for Decision That Trump Actually Made in 2017
Trump blamed his predecessor for appointing a “terrible” Federal Reserve chair. Except Biden wasn’t the president who handed Jerome Powell the job
NEED TO KNOW
- President Donald Trump blamed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for appointing the “terrible” Jerome Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve
- However, Powell was first tapped for the role in 2017 by Trump himself, and Biden simply agreed to extend the chair’s tenure past 2022
- Trump’s open desire for a different central bank leader has sparked bipartisan backlash, as the Federal Reserve has long been considered politically independent
Donald Trump is criticizing his predecessor’s choice of Federal Reserve chairman — though he seems to have forgotten one important detail.
During a recent Oval Office meeting, the president lamented the appointment of Jerome Powell to lead the United States’ central bank, wrongfully pinning the decision on Joe Biden.
“He’s a terrible, he’s a terrible Fed chair,” Trump, 79, said on Wednesday, July 16. “I was surprised he was appointed. I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him.”
While it’s true that Biden extended Powell’s chairmanship past 2022, Trump is the one who hand-selected Powell for the gig during his first term.
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During a nomination speech on Nov. 2, 2017, Trump said that he wanted to install Powell as the Federal Reserve chairman because the country needed someone who could provide “sound monetary policy and prudent oversight of our banking system.”
“I have nominated [Powell] to be our next federal chairman, and it’s so important because he will provide exactly that type of leadership,” Trump said at the time. “He’s strong. He’s committed. He’s smart. And, if he is confirmed by the Senate, [he] will put his considerable talents and experience to work, leading our nation’s independent central bank, which has the critical responsibility to set monetary policy and monitor our banking system as a whole.”
Trump added: “I am confident that Jay has the wisdom and leadership to guide our economy through any challenges that our great economy may face.”
Powell was confirmed as the Federal Reserve chairman by an 84-13 Senate vote in January 2018 and assumed the position on Feb. 5, 2018.
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Flash forward nearly eight years, and Trump’s open desire for a different Federal Reserve chairman has come under bipartisan fire, after multiple media reports alleged that the president was looking to force him out.
Long thought to be an institution independent of politics, the Federal Reserve was created with the stability of the country’s economy in mind — and abruptly changing its leadership for a political motive would likely do the opposite, The Associated Press noted.
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“The markets expect an independent, central bank,” said GOP South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, per AP. “And if they thought for a minute that he wasn’t independent, it would cast a spell over the forecasts and the integrity of the decisions being made by the bank.”
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Trump’s primary grievance against Powell is the chairman’s supposed refusal to lower interest rates, per The New York Times — though the power to do so actually rests with investors and the 12-member board that Powell presides over.
The president’s remarks against Powell come amid an ongoing trade war due to Trump’s tariffs, which have contributed to economic uncertainty in the United States since Trump’s second term began.
