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Following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s decision to pause interest rate hikes, President Donald Trump speculated that the move was a political ploy to help Democrats.
During an interview with Fox on Feb. 2, Trump called out Powell’s decision, claiming he believed the Federal Reserve chair would “probably help the Democrats” by lowering interest rates for Americans.
“I think he’s going to do something to probably help the Democrats, I think, if he lowers interest rates,” Trump stated. The 45th president continued to note that “it looks to me like he’s trying to lower interest rates for the sake of maybe getting people elected.”
Prior to the former president’s comments, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that it would continue to pause on interest rate increases as their first move for 2024, continuing to aim for a 2 percent inflation target, according to Business Insider.
The Federal Reserve stated in December that its goal was to hit three interest rate cuts within 2024. However, Powell has since stated that the objective would most likely not be reached by the next meeting in March, the outlet reported.
“I don’t think it’s likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting to identify March as the time to do that, but that’s to be seen,” Powell stated, according to Business Insider.
While Powell has continued to insist that the economic data will be a driving factor for the decision, Democrat lawmakers such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have pushed Powell to bring down the rates, according to CNBC.
The Democrat leaders wrote a letter to the Federal Reserve chair stating that the decision should be weighed against the “significant increase” of Americans trying to buy homes.
“As the Fed weighs its next steps in the new year, we urge you to consider the effects of your interest rate decisions on the housing market,” the letter stated. “The direct effect of these astronomical rates has been a significant increase in the overall home purchasing cost to the average consumer.”
While Powell has continued to state that the decisions are not political, Trump noted that if elected as the 2024 president, he would not reappoint Powell as the head of the Federal Reserve, according to Business Insider.
