Donald Trump signals interest in influencing Federal Reserve decisions if he regains White House
Donald Trump said on Thursday that U.S. presidents should have a say over decisions made by the Federal Reserve, the most explicit indication so far of his interest in infringing on the central bank's independence should he regain the White House.
«I feel the president should have at least (a) say in there,» the former president told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. «I think that in my case, I made a lot of money, I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve or the chairman.»
Trump allies have drafted proposals that would attempt to erode the Fed's independence if he wins, the Wall Street Journal reported in April. The Trump campaign distanced itself from the report at the time.
But his remarks on Thursday indicate he is squarely aligned with one of the proposals' main thrusts: If he becomes president, Trump should be consulted on interest rate decisions, and Fed banking regulation proposals should be subject to White House review.
The Fed chair and the other six members of its board of governors are nominated by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate. But the Fed enjoys substantial operational independence to make policy decisions that wield tremendous influence over the direction of the world's largest economy and global asset markets.
Among the pegs supporting the U.S. dollar's stature as the world's reserve currency, for instance, is the Fed's ability to set monetary policy on its own without
