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New York Post
6 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump threatens to sue ‘loser' Fed chair Powell: ‘Steve 'Manouychin' really gave me a ‘beauty'
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday said his next line of attack against 'loser' Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for refusing to lower interest rates could be a lawsuit over his $2.5 billion headquarters renovation. The president even slammed his own first-term treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, for recommending the head of the Central Bank. 'Jerome 'Too Late' Powell must NOW lower the rate. Steve 'Manouychin' really gave me a 'beauty' when he pushed this loser,' Trump wrote, misspelling the name of his then-cabinet member who encouraged him to pick Powell in 2017. Advertisement 4 President Trump — frustrated by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's refusal to lower interest rates — has accused Powell of squandering public resources on a $2.5 billion headquarters renovation. AP 'The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we've blown through Powell and the complacent Board. I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings,' the president said. He added that the construction project 'should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up.' Advertisement 4 Trump slammed his former treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin (right, next to his wife Louise Linton), for even recommending Powell in his first term. AP It's unclear what the lawsuit's claims would be. Powell's press office did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment. The president slammed Powell shortly after the monthly release of inflation data for July, with the Consumer Price Index showing a 2.7% annual increase in prices — remaining above the Fed's 2% target but well below a 9.1% peak under former President Joe Biden in June 2022. Powell has refused to lower interest rates at all in 2025 — with Trump alleging political motivations after three cuts last year, including two reductions shortly before the presidential election. During that race, Vice President Kamala Harris faced criticism for her role in the incumbent administration's economic program. Advertisement 4 Trump said Tuesday that he may sue Powell. Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Powell has justified the unchanged rates by citing the unknown effect of Trump's tariffs on inflation. The Fed's next meeting to discuss possible rate cuts is scheduled for Sept. 16. High interest rates have made it more expensive to finance home purchases and for businesses and consumers to take out loans, including to lease cars and reduce credit-card balances. Advertisement Trump and his team recently appeared to back away from allegations that Powell may have broken the law over the government building renovations, which could have provided a potential justification for termination. 4 Trump tours the building's construction site with Powell last month. REUTERS Congressional Republicans had suggested that Powell lied to a Senate committee — a crime punishable by five years in prison — by testifying that the building lacked various luxury features, insisting that plans had changed. Trump's budget chief, Russ Vought, then wrote to Powell last month pointing out an apparent Catch-22: that he may have violated the National Capital Planning Act by making unapproved changes to plans. Powell replied that he considered the changes minor enough that disclosure was not required. Trump, a billionaire real-estate developer, said he had no plans to fire Powell after touring the site on July 24 — attributing cost overruns to wasteful decisions including to retroactively build basements and parking spots beneath historic buildings just north of the National Mall. Trump has said he wants Powell to resign but that if he won't do so, he plans to empower a replacement when his term expires in May 2026 who will immediately move to lower interest rates by more than 2%.
Axios
6 minutes ago
- Axios
Trump appointments could bring on a breakdown of economic trust
No longer are America's most important economic institutions politically untouchable. Why it matters: Econ wonks — those far more comfortable with large datasets than the inner dealings of Washington — won't just question the significance of indicators or policy decisions. Now they will wonder whether they can trust if data, or monetary policy conclusions, reflect reality or political motivations. Driving the news: President Trump said Monday night he would nominate Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE," Trump said in a Truth Social post. Details: Antoni, a frequent BLS critic, got his Ph.D. in 2020 from Northern Illinois University and is chief economist at the Heritage Foundation's Hermann Center for the Federal Budget. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon had been pushing Antoni as a preferred MAGA candidate for the role. Antoni is the second former Heritage economist picked by Trump to lead BLS, after William Beach in 2017. (Beach has recently blasted Trump's firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer.) What to watch: There is no evidence to suggest the BLS is fudging the data to make Trump appear more or less favorable. But the pick raised questions among economists on the right and the left about what qualified Antoni to lead the agency — beyond his support of Trump. It is also unclear what types of sweeping changes Antoni might implement in the near term, a possibility that could leave Wall Street in the dark for a longer stretch than usual. Antoni told "Fox Business" on Monday that the BLS "should suspend issuing the monthly job reports but keep publishing the more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data." What they're saying: Antoni's "work at Heritage has frequently included elementary errors or nonsensical choices that all bias his findings in the same partisan direction," Stan Veuger, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, wrote in an email to Axios. Veuger, who also cited Antoni's lack of relevant research or management experience, pointed to a paper from last year co-authored by Antoni. It claimed the American economy was in recession since 2022 — which was rebutted thoroughly in a subsequent National Bureau of Economic Research paper. The big picture: Trump's BLS pick comes days after the White House said Stephen Miran would be appointed to the Federal Reserve board to serve out a term that expires in January. Like Antoni, Miran — who is currently the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers — will soon be a top official at an institution he has previously criticized. If confirmed, Miran will likely join other Fed governors in calling for rate cuts, as Trump repeated Tuesday morning he wants. The other side: In nominating both Miran and Antoni, Trump has suggested the picks will correct perceived faults at the respective agencies. Trump said the July jobs report was "RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME look bad," though he did not offer evidence to support that claim. The intrigue: The BLS is dealing with plummeting survey response rates and funding cuts that have plagued data collection — key issues Antoni, if confirmed, will face.
CNBC
7 minutes ago
- CNBC
BlackRock's Rick Rieder says CPI gives Fed justification for a half-point cut in September
Rick Rieder, BlackRock's chief investment officer for global fixed income, is sticking with his call for a jumbo rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month after new inflation data showed less-than-expected price pressures. "We expect the Fed to begin cutting rates in September, and it could be justified cutting the Funds rate by 50 basis points, to get it more aligned with longer-term inflationary expectations and some of the productivity enhancement we are seeing across multiple industries," Rieder said Tuesday in a note to clients. (1 basis point equals 0.01%.) A half-point cut in September would mirror the Fed's move in September 2024 when it began the easing cycle with a big rate reduction. His comments came after data showed the consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month and 2.7% on a 12-month basis. The year-over-year rise was softer than a Dow Jones estimate of 2.8%. Rieder, a widely followed investor on Wall Street, had brought up the possibility of a half-point cut after July's jobs report released Friday signaled a dramatic slowdown in the labor market. BlackRock manages $3.1 trillion in fixed income assets on behalf of clients. "Today's inflation report was a bit stronger than we have seen over the prior few months, but lower than many have feared," Rieder said. "We are still heartened by the trajectory of some core areas of inflation that are running at lower levels than in the prior few years." Excluding food and energy, the core CPI increased 0.3% for the month and 3.1% from a year ago, compared with the forecasts for 0.3% and 3%. The monthly core rate was the biggest increase since January while the annual rate was the highest since February.
