What’s Holding Trump Back From Firing Powell
The president wants to get rid of the Fed chair—if the markets will let him. We all have to hope he won’t gamble on that.
By James Surowiecki, The Atlantic
President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to an unexpected place last week, touring the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, where two buildings are currently under renovation. Trump then staged a bizarre photo op with the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, and criticized Powell over the cost of the renovation before telling him to lower interest rates, which the Fed could do—but almost certainly won’t—at its meeting today.
This presidential conduct was all but unimaginable before Trump. Previously, only three presidents in American history have ever visited the Fed. In each of those visits, the president honored the institution rather than attacked it; Trump’s motive was different. His visit was the latest move in a high-pressure campaign to get Powell to either cut interest rates or resign.
