Fed Chairman Jerome Powell can’t give Trump what he wants

Just two months after President Donald Trump began a brief detente with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, he’s ramping up his old pressure campaign. Although Trump has stopped short of reiterating his prior, but since-retracted threat to fire Powell, the president has teased announcing his nominee to replace him long before the beleaguered central bank head’s term expires in 11 months.

Then, in a Truth Social post, Trump called for a major reduction in the target interest rate set by the Fed at which commercial banks borrow and lend their extra reserves to one another overnight. The federal funds rate is an important benchmark in financial markets, influencing a wide range of market interest rates.