President Trump is pushing the Federal Reserve to go beyond its legal mandate and help him manage the national debt as Republicans face growing pressure over the nation’s finances.
In a series of remarks and social media posts, Trump has ripped Fed Chair Jerome Powell for refusing to lower interest rates, insisting he should help the White House manage the costs of servicing more than $36 trillion in national debt.
“'Too Late' Jerome Powell is costing our Country Hundreds of Billions of Dollars. He is truly one of the dumbest, and most destructive, people in Government, and the Fed Board is complicit,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social, a day after the Fed held interest rates steady.
While Trump has spent most of his two White House stints berating Powell to cut rates, only recently has he tied those demands to the country’s deteriorating fiscal health.
“We're beginning to see what I think are the early warning signs that the Fed is going to be increasingly called upon to keep the government solvent,” said David Beckworth, senior research fellow and monetary policy director at the Mercatus Center, a libertarian-leaning think tank at George Mason University.
“When you begin to see this type of rhetoric, it's a clear sign that people are beginning to get nervous,” Beckworth explained. “And how else can we save money? Well, let's turn into the Fed and put pressure on them.”
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