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"I
didn't ever threaten to demote him," Trump said. "I'd be able to
do that if I wanted to, but I haven't suggested that."
Trump has been pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates for
months, a campaign that began last October when he said the U.S.
central bank had "gone crazy" under Powell after several rate
hikes.
The Fed on Wednesday said it was ready to battle growing global
and domestic economic risks with interest rate cuts beginning as
early as next month. The central bank left its benchmark
interest rate unchanged for now.
A day later, Trump said that the Fed should have lowered rates
sooner, but "you can't win 'em all." He added that eventually
Powell "will do what's right, perhaps. Let's see what he does."
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the White House counsel's
office in February had explored the possibility of stripping the
Fed chairmanship from Powell and demoting him to a member of the
Fed board of governors.
In the Meet the Press interview recorded on Friday, Trump
repeated that he was "not happy" with Powell's actions. "No I
don't think he's doing a good job."
Trump said former President Barack Obama had a Federal Reserve
chairman "that kept rates very low. I had somebody that raised
the rates very rapidly. Too much. He made a mistake."
(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
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