
Trump says Fed's Powell will be out in 8 months, calls him 'numbskull'
"I think he's done a bad job, but he's going to be out pretty soon anyway. In eight months, he'll be out," he said from a meeting at the White House with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Powell's term as Fed chair runs through May 15, and he has repeatedly said he will not leave the post early. Eight months run until mid-March, and it was not immediately clear why Trump picked that time frame.
Trump has been hammering at Powell for months for not cutting rates and has frequently raised the possibility of ousting him, while also saying that firing him would be "unlikely."
On Tuesday Trump repeated his view that the policy rate should be 3 percentage points lower than it is.
The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee meets next week and is nearly universally expected to leave the policy rate in its current range of 4.25%-4.50% as policymakers wait to see how inflation and employment react to tariffs.
"Our economy is so strong now, blowing through everything. We're setting records," Trump said. "But you know what? People aren't able to buy a house because this guy is a numbskull. He keeps the rates too high, and is probably doing it for political reasons."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, at the same meeting, trained his sights on the Fed for its non-monetary operations, again calling for a big internal investigation. White House officials have recently raised questions about a $2.5 billion renovation of two Fed buildings in Washington which they say are inappropriately lavish.
"The Fed has had big mission creep, and that's where a lot of the spending is going," Bessent said. "That's where, why they're building these new, or refurbishing these buildings, and I think they have got to stay in their lane."
The Fed counters that the buildings had severe safety and efficiency shortcomings that needed to be addressed.
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Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Emily Thornberry: Starmer has 'a golden opportunity' to sway Trump on Gaza
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New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'We have a golden opportunity to say to Donald Trump, 'Look, whatever kind of goodwill there was behind doing this, it's not working. And actually, it's not working because you can't have four aid points instead of 400'," Thornberry said. ''We have to have something which is under the auspices of the United Nations and actually there was a lot more skill in handing out aid than people really thought . . . frankly, the other system just doesn't work. Let's quietly walk away from it'.' The report also recommends that the UK government take immediate steps to "prepare a comprehensive ban" on goods imported from Israeli settlements and recognise the state of Palestine "while there is still a state to recognise". 'To be honest, nobody else is going to stop Netanyahu apart from President Trump' - Emily Thornberry, MP and Foreign Affairs committee chair Starmer and Trump's scheduled talks fall on the same day as the start of a UN conference in which France had earlier suggested it might recognise the state of Palestine. But late on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country would recognise a Palestinian state in September at the UN General Assembly. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has repeatedly said that the UK wants to recognise Palestine as part of a pathway towards a two-state solution, but at time when recognition would be most conducive to securing a peace process. Thornberry said, whether next week or in September, she would like to see the UK recognise Palestine with France. Even if the move may be 'only symbolic' in some ways, it is an important first step to getting the UK 'back into the ring and saying, 'Right. Let's play our part'," Thornberry said. 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Middle East Eye
5 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
US court rules that Trump's ban on birthright citizenship is unconstitutional
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The National
5 hours ago
- The National
UAE and US working to 'get chips moving' after AI deal
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