President Donald Trump’s push for lower interest rates is drawing criticism from allies and opponents alike, raising fresh concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence and the potential risks to the U.S. economy.
On Sunday, billionaire Republican megadonor and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, calling for interest rate resolution but warning that the president’s attacks on the Fed chair carry “steep costs.”
“Runaway inflation during the Biden administration cost the Democrats in the 2024 elections. Rightfully, President Trump and his administration have made controlling inflation a priority,” Griffin said, alongside co-author Anil Kashyap, a University of Chicago business professor.
“But statements and actions that undermine the independence of the Fed risk stoking both higher inflation and higher long-term rates,” they continued. “The president’s strategy of publicly criticizing the Fed, suggesting the dismissal of governors and pressuring the central bank to adopt a more permissive stance toward inflation carries steep costs. These actions raise inflation expectations, increase market risk premiums and weaken investor confidence in U.S. institutions.”
HASSETT SAYS HE SUPPORTS FEDERAL RESERVE INDEPENDENCE AMID TRUMP ADMIN’S RATE CUT PUSH
President Trump has increasingly put Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in his crosshairs, publicly calling him “slow,” “incompetent” and “politically motivated” in various Truth Social posts. The president has demanded significant rate cuts, as have other top Cabinet officials, and called for Powell’s resignation.
Griffin, who reportedly donated hundreds of millions of dollars to conservative causes in the most recent presidential campaign cycle, joins other traditional GOP backers in voicing concerns over the tension. When reached by Fox News Digital, Griffin did not have additional comments.
“They’ve got to get these contradictions out of the way. … They’ve got to be firm about it, because if [Trump] and the Federal Reserve then said, ‘We want a stable dollar,’ I think you’d see the dollar go up in value for the right reasons, and you’d be able to do more interest rate cuts,” Steve Forbes said on FOX Business’ “Kudlow.”
“The deficit is one thing, but, most importantly, is how attractive is the U.S. to foreign investment?” economist Mohamed El-Erian also said on the “Kudlow” panel. “And this is really important. We are right now at the forefront of transformational innovations. We are leading the world in those innovations. … They can fundamentally change our growth trajectory.”
Global leaders, including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, said in a radio interview last week that undue interference in the Federal Reserve’s operations by Trump could pose a serious economic risk to the U.S. and the rest of the world.
“If U.S. monetary policy were no longer independent and instead dependent on the dictates of this or that person, then I believe that the effect on the balance of the American economy could, as a result of the effects this would have around the world, be very worrying, because it is the largest economy in the world,” Lagarde said.
Economist and professor Peter St. Onge explained the conflict on FOX Business’ “Making Money with Charles Payne,” saying, “What’s happening here is that Fed supporters are concerned there could be structural damage to the Fed in this back-and-forth between Trump and Powell. So, in other words, Trump might keep Powell, but he might clip the wings of the Fed, transfer some of its oversight and maybe some of its monetary discretion over to the Treasury, where, of course, it has more voter oversight.”
“It’s not so much that they’re admitting Trump is right,” he expanded. “It’s that they are seeing the bigger threat to the Fed’s sort of control over the economy.”
“The Federal Reserve’s stated objective is to set monetary policy based on what the data show, and the data clearly show that the Trump administration’s policies have swiftly tamed Joe Biden’s inflation crisis,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “The president and the financial markets have their view clear that the Fed should respond to this objective fact by cutting rates, delivering needed interest rate relief to American families while supporting economic and employment growth.”
The Federal Reserve declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
In his concluding remarks, Griffin, who oversees one of the world’s largest hedge funds, emphasized that Fed independence is essential, but only part of the effort needed to strengthen America’s economy.
“To put the nation on a better trajectory, the president should press Congress to reduce government spending and advance reforms that raise long-term growth potential. … Congress must summon the will to halt the surge in the ratio of debt to gross domestic product while structural reforms — targeted deregulation and investment in human capital — reinforce the effort. And an independent Fed must have space to pursue its dual mandate with resolve, restoring inflation to 2% while safeguarding employment.”
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FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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