Donald Trump says he won't try to remove Fed chief Jerome Powell

President-elect Donald Trump said he will not try to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term runs through May 2026.

In an exclusive interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, Trump said, “I don’t,” when asked if he plans to cut short the central bank chief’s term.

“The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said he will not leave his post even if you ask him to. Will you try to replace Jerome Powell?” Welker asked during the interview at Trump Tower in New York City.

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t see it,” Trump replied. “But, I don’t — I think if I told him to, he would. But if I asked him to, he probably wouldn’t. But if I told him to, he would.”

Welker followed up, “You don’t have plans to do that right now?”

“No, I don’t,” Trump said.

Trump appointed Powell, a Republican and a former private equity executive, as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in February 2018. Soon after, during a dispute about interest rates, Trump floated removing him.

The two clashed several times during Trump’s first term, with Trump threatening to fire him on repeated occasions. In 2022, President Joe Biden reappointed Powell to a second four-year term.

Powell has offered a sharp “no” to recent questions over whether he would leave his post early to allow Trump to pick a replacement sooner. He has also said he does not believe Trump can fire him. “Not permitted under the law,” Powell said at a postelection news conference.

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The relationship between Trump and Powell will be closely watched as Trump returns to office. Trump lashed out at Powell during his first term, arguing that he was not moving quickly enough to ease monetary policy.

Trump swiped at Powell again in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, telling reporters that he had the “right to remove” Powell from the post and criticizing what he said were “a lot of bad decisions, in my opinion.”

Trump has lately argued that the president should have the power to weigh in on interest rate decisions, which are made by the Fed. 

“I don’t think I should be allowed to order it, but I think I have the right to put in comments as to whether the interest rates should go up or down,” Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News at the Economic Club of Chicago in October.

Of Powell’s job, Trump said, “You show up to the office once a month, and you say, ‘Let’s flip a coin,’ and everybody talks about you like you’re a god.”