Trump rips Powell, suggests appointing himself to Fed
President Trump ramped up his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and suggested appointing himself to the central bank.
'Maybe I should go to the Fed,' Trump mused at the White House on Wednesday, hours before the central bank was set to announce its latest interest rate move.
'Am I allowed to appointment myself at the Fed,' he continued. 'I'd do a much better job than these people.'
With less than a year left in Powell's term as Fed chair, most Fedwatchers don't expect Trump to make a run at his job and risk upsetting markets. But Trump has repeatedly suggested removing Powell, and his campaign reportedly considered a plan to give the president more authority over Fed rate decisions despite the bank's legal separation from White House policymaking.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting interest rates, is expected to keep its baseline interest rate unchanged Wednesday.
While Powell is the de facto leader of the FOMC as chair of the Fed board, he is but one of more than a dozen central bank officials who vote on the bank's interest rate moves.
Even so, Trump has raged at Powell for more than seven years after the president elevated him to lead the Fed in 2017.
Trump has repeatedly threatened Powell's job and criticized his handling of the economy, accusing the lifelong Republican of rigging interest rates to support Democrats and oppose the president's economic policies.
During his second term, Trump dubbed Powell 'Mr. Too-Late,' accusing the Fed of raising rates too slowly amid the post-pandemic inflation spike and cutting them too slowly after Trump took office.
'I would have never reappointed him. Biden reappointed him. I don't know why that is. But I guess maybe he was a Democrat,' Trump said Wednesday of Powell, a Republican who worked in the George H.W. Bush administration and has faced fierce backlash from the left throughout his Fed tenure.
'You know, I got great advice from Mnuchin on this one,' he said of former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was the driving force behind Powell's nomination.
Fed officials kicked off the year expecting to continue cutting interest rates as inflation drifted back toward its ideal annual level of 2 percent. But the bank has held off through the first half of 2025 amid the uncertainty driven by Trump's tariff plans.
'The labor market is solid, inflation is low. We can afford to be patient as things unfold. There's no real cost to our waiting at this point,' Powell told reporters last month after the Fed kept rates steady following its two-day policy meeting.
'There's a great deal of uncertainty about … where tariff policies are going to settle out and also, when they do settle out, what will be the implications for the economy, for growth and for employment,' he added.
Brett Samuels contributed
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How to make the most of the Fed's latest interest rate decision
Still no movement. For its fourth meeting in a row, the Federal Reserve opted to leave unchanged its key short-term interest rate — which influences a host of rates on consumer financial products and bank accounts across the United States. That means that once again anyone with savings that they want to invest in stable, low-risk, interest-yielding assets is in luck. It may be especially good news for retirees, who are usually advised to keep a year's worth of living expenses in interest-bearing accounts so that they won't have to sell stocks from their portfolio when the market is down. Still, many investors may be eager for rate cuts — and the Fed is still forecasting that two might happen this year. 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Rates on some of the best accounts now available range between 3.6% and 4.3%, according to Bankrate. That compares very favorably to the average savings rate across all banks, which was just 0.38% as of June 16, according to the FDIC. Money market funds: If you don't want to shop around for good rates, and you're looking for another option in which to stash your emergency fund or money for upcoming expenses, a low-cost money market mutual fund can do the leg work for you. The funds, which typically invest in short-term, low-risk Treasuries as well as municipal and corporate bonds, are not FDIC-insured. But they are considered very low risk because they almost always preserve your principal since they only rarely have fallen below $1 a share. As of June 17, the average money market fund yielded 4.10 percent, according to Crane Data. Certificates of deposit: If you can afford to lock your money up for a fixed period of time (eg, 6 months, 18 months, 1 year, 3 years, etc.) FDIC-insured banks will offer you a higher return in a CD. Rather than buy one directly from your bank, though, you will have more choice and are likely to get a much better rate if you buy a 'brokered CD' through your brokerage. At for instance, CD rates were averaging between 4.35% and 4.5% on Wednesday morning on durations between three months and five years. Note that you will owe federal, state and local taxes on your interest earnings. And you may be subject to a penalty if you take the money out before your CD's term ends. US Treasuries: You can get a decent return and a tax break if you invest in US Treasury bills and notes. 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