Donald Trump launched into a chaotic tirade Wednesday, tearing into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, mocking President Biden, and even suggesting he should take over the Fed himself.
Speaking to reporters from the White House lawn before the Fed’s latest interest rate decision, the president let loose.
“We have a man that just refuses to lower the Fed rate, just refuses to do it, and he’s not a smart person,” Trump said. “I don’t even think he’s that political. I think he hates me, but that’s okay.”
Trump suggested Powell’s resistance wasn’t about policy — it was personal. “I call him every name in the book trying to get him to do something,” he told reporters.
Trump, who appointed Powell in 2018, said he’s tried everything to convince him to slash rates — sweet talk, insults, even dinner invitations — and nothing worked.
“I’ve been nice to him, I do it all ways,” Trump said. “I know how to sell. I’ve been so nice to him. Fellas, you wouldn’t believe. ‘Let’s have dinner, Too Late’ — I call him ‘Too Late.’ Come on, Too Late, let’s have dinner.’ I do it every way in the book. I’m nasty, I’m nice – nothing works. He’s, like, just a stupid person.”
He also veered into a ramble about inflation and took shots at former President Joe Biden.
“We had, when I came in we had a lot of inflation,” Trump said. “We went through four years of the highest inflation in the history of our country with ‘sleepy’ Joe Biden and ‘sleepy Joe,’ and he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.”
Trump claimed inflation dropped as soon as he won the election — though no data backs that up — and blamed Powell for not doing more to help the economy now.
“If he’s worried about inflation, that’s okay, I understand that,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any.”
Trump then floated the idea of taking Powell’s job himself.
“Maybe I should go to the Fed,” he said. “Am I allowed to appoint myself? I don’t know. Am I allowed to appoint myself at the Fed? I’d do a much better job than these people.”
The Fed is expected to hold rates steady as it monitors inflation.
Watch the clip below from ABC News:
