Since retaking office, President Trump has relentlessly attacked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Yet despite the insults, Trump may be keeping Powell around for at least one key reason.
“Why would I do that? I get to replace the person in another short period of time,” Trump said of removing Powell.
Still, Trump may have another good reason to keep Powell around, said Robert R. Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University.
“My belief is that Trump’s criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell is an example of Trump setting up the scenario of ‘heads I win, tails you lose,'” Johnson told Fortune. “That is, according to Trump if the economy performs well his tariff policies and his general handling of the economy will be the reason. If the economy suffers a recession, then it is Powell’s fault.”
“If you look through the sort of distortions in Q1 GDP, you’ve still got an economy that looks like it’s growing at a solid pace. The labor market appears to be solid. Inflation is running just a bit above 2%. So, it’s an economy that’s been resilient and is in good shape.”
