Trump accuses Powell of keeping interest rates "artificially high"
President Trump on Sunday accused Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell of artificially inflating interest rates and said they should be less than half of what they are now.
Why it matters: After Trump's threats to fire Powell scared global bond markets and caused interest rates to spike, the president and his administration have turned to insults and public demands instead.
What they're saying: "We have a bad Fed chairman, but other than that ... it doesn't even matter, the numbers are so good it doesn't matter that he keeps the rates artificially high," Trump said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."
"We should be at 1% or 2%," Trump added later in the interview. (The current target rate is a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.)
He also once again criticized Powell personally as a "stupid person" and a "bad person."
Catch up quick: On Friday afternoon, Trump told reporters he would not appoint anyone to be the new Fed chair unless they would immediately cut interest rates, the clearest signal yet that the White House intends to exert more control over monetary policy next year.
Hours earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the administration could nominate a replacement for Powell as soon as October, even though his term as chair runs through next May.
Officials have floated the idea of a "shadow" Fed chair before, raising the prospect that the market may have to take very conflicting cues from two different officials at the same time.
The intrigue: Trump said he had three names in mind for the next chair, but declined to say whom.
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