The Irish Times view on Trump vs the Fed: rocky times ahead
Donald Trump is running serious risks in his hectoring of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve Board and its chair, Jay Powell. The Fed ignored Trump's demand for an immediate interest rate cut when it announced the outcome of the deliberations of its policy-making council at its recent meeting in mid-June. But since then the president has unleahed a stream of criticism at the Fed chair. Last Friday he said he would 'love' Powell to resign as he was doing a 'lousy' job. He has threatened to name a replacement, even though Powell's term still has 11 months to run, a move that would further undermine the incumbent.
Trump thrives on conflict and the resulting publicity. No doubt previous presidents have, in private, tried to nudge the Fed to cut interest rates, or not to increase them. But in public, administrations have generally respected its independence. Trump is choosing a different course.
The point of central bank independence is that the monetary authority often has to do unpopular things to bear down on inflation. This underpins investor and consumer confidence – and leads to a more stable economic environment in the long term. Were it to be seen to do Trump's bidding, the independence of the Fed would be undermined. Trump has made clear that a new nominee would have to be prepared to cut interest rates. The affair underlines the contradictions of the president's economic agenda. Trump is calling for lower rates at the same time as he is imposing tariffs and threatening more. And these import taxes push up US inflation. He is also trying to get Congressional agreement for his 'big, beautiful budget bill' which will add to US borrowing and the national debt. Investors look on nervously here, too, fearful of the huge borrowings the US government is going to have to engage in.
To improve his budget numbers, Trump needs faster growth. Lower interest rates are one way to achieve this. By undermining Powell's position, Trump will only add further to existing nerves among investors about increasingly unpredictable US economic policy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Israeli strikes kill 60 in Gaza as officials in Washington for talks
Aircraft bomb at least four schools after hundreds of families sheltering inside told to leave ©Reuters Israeli strikes killed at least 60 people across Gaza yesterday in some of the heaviest attacks in weeks as officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by US president Donald Trump. A day after Mr Trump called to 'make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back', Israel's strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's, was travelling to Washington for talks on Iran and Gaza, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
The Irish Independent's View: Netanyahu must be stopped, and only the US has the power to do it
With unlimited US assistance and unqualified permission, he has obliterated Gaza and attacked Iran. As Washington has given him free rein, he has become ever more ruthless. Donald Trump has now told Tel Aviv to do a deal to free the remaining hostages. There's no reason to believe asking Netanyahu to do anything will be sufficient. He has to be ordered to stop. Within hours of Trump's appeal, urging an end to the 20-month-old war, Gaza reported one of the worst nights of Israeli bombardment. The deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians may have provoked global revulsion, but no real repercussions for Netanyahu. Talk is rife now that the Israeli prime minister will soon be at the White House for talks on a Gaza ceasefire. To date, dialogue has led to nothing. On the ground in Gaza, Trump's words, no matter how forceful the tone, or loud the voice, would have been drowned out by the detonations. There was no sign of fighting letting up. 'Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes,' said one man in Gaza city. Yesterday, in a strike on a popular cafe used by media, more than 20 people were killed. Al-Baqa Cafeteria had become a well-known space for journalists, activists and remote workers, offering internet access, seating and workspace. Israel needs to be made stop, but it will not be told; only Trump has the heft to demand that it does. If there is any risk of becoming numb to the suffering, we should remind ourselves we are never immune to the consequences. French philosopher Paul Valery had a very lucid understanding of the perversity of war. War was, he said: 'A massacre of people who don't know each other for the profit of people who know each other but don't massacre each other.' ADVERTISEMENT Across Europe and around the world, an alarming emphasis has been placed on ramping up defence budgets. Instead of deepening our abhorrence of war, the horrors we have witnessed first in Ukraine and now in the Middle East are actually in danger of making us more resigned to it. We need to take a step back and focus more energy and resources on prevention and conflict resolution. As Noam Chomsky said, wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism. Palestinian and Egyptian sources believe mediators from Qatar and Egypt have stepped up contacts with the warring sides in efforts to agree on a ceasefire. Israel's military chief has said the current ground operation was close to having achieved its goals. Perhaps the words of Israel's first and only female prime minister, Golda Meir, might be recalled: 'There's no difference between one's killing and making decisions that will send others to kill. It's exactly the same thing, or even worse.' It's time to call a halt to the horror.
Irish Daily Star
10 hours ago
- Irish Daily Star
AT&T breaks silence with three-word comment after Trump hits out at telecomms giant
Popular telecommunications service provider AT&T has officially responded to Donald Trump , who lambasted the company for preventing him from joining the Faith Leaders Conference call. The company posted a status on their X account saying they had to "assess the situation" after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a photo from Trump's Truth Social platform on her social media profile on X. "We've reached out to the White House and are working to quickly understand and assess the situation," the company said in response to Leavitt's tweet. The post comes minutes after Trump attacked AT&T over the alleged bad service. Read More Related Articles Four urgent signs Donald Trump has a specific type of dementia expert warns Read More Related Articles Ivanka Trump flaunts figure in form-fitting pink gown at Jeff Bezos' wedding The company posted a status on X saying they had to "assess the situation" after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a photo from Trump's Truth Social platform. (Image: AP) "I apologize for the long wait on the Faith Leaders Conference Call. AT&T ought to get its act together," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We may have to reschedule the call, but we'll use another carrier the next time." "AT&T obviously doesn't know what they're doing," he concluded. Trump also slammed the head of the telecoms company prior to complaining about not having the equipment work properly. According to the company, they were trying to "assess the situation." (Image: Getty Images) "I'm doing a major Conference Call with Faith Leaders from all over the Country, and AT&T is totally unable to make their equipment work properly," the president said. "This is the second time it's happened." "If the Boss of AT&T, whoever that may be, could get involved — It would be good," he added. "There are tens of thousands of people on the line!" Trump also slammed the head of the telecoms company prior to complaining about not having the equipment work properly. (Image: AFP via Getty Images) Leavitt's passive-aggressive tweet comes after she shared a bizarre memo Trump sent to Fed Chair Jerome Powell during her weekly press briefing. "Jerome, you are, as usual, 'too late'; you have cost the USA a fortune and continue to so," Trump wrote in his sweeping scrawl. "You should lower the rate by a lot!" "Hundreds of Billions of dollars are being lost," he finished. "No inflation." The statement from Trump was part of a post on Truth Social. "Jerome 'Too Late' Powell, and his entire Board, should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to the United States," he wrote. "They have one of the easiest, yet most prestigious, jobs in America, and they have FAILED — And continue to do so," he added. "If they were doing their job properly, our Country would be saving Trillions of Dollars in Interest Cost." "The Board just sits there and watches, so they are equally to blame," he finished. "We should be paying 1% Interest, or better!" This is the latest of Trump bashing Powell. Previously, Trump urged Powell to lower the interest rate. "ADP NUMBER OUT!!! 'Too Late' Powell must now LOWER THE RATE ," he wrote. " He is unbelievable ," Trump added. The president had also called Powell "stupid." He said, "We have a stupid person, frankly, at the FED. He probably won't cut today. Europe had ten cuts and we had none." "I guess he's a political guy, i don't know, he's a political guy who's not a smart person," Trump added. " But discussing the country of fortune. But what I'm gonna do is, you know, he gets out in nine months, he has to." It comes after First Lady Melania Trump looked like she'd made an embarrassing blunder.
