President Trump said he is "looking at" breaking up giant Wall Street banks during an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday. "I'm looking at that right now," Trump said. "There's some people that want to go back to the old system, right? So we're going to look at that."
The "old system" Trump refers to is the 1933 Depression-era Glass-Steagall law that required a separation of consumer lending and investment banking. The Republican platform also backs restoring the law, which was repealed in 1999 under former President Bill Clinton.
Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is a former banker for Goldman Sachs, has also called for a "21st century" Glass-Steagall.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"On the one hand, a revival of Glass-Steagall would fly in the face of Trump's push to accelerate the American economy by massively reducing regulation," writes CNN Money. "But Trump did bash big banks before the election, especially Goldman Sachs. Breaking up the banks would appeal to Trump's populist message of draining the swamp by uprooting the establishment."
-
DHS preps for major ICE expansion, rankling local law enforcementIN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration positions ICE as the primary federal police force, its recruitment efforts have been met with a less-than-enthusiastic response
-
The return of 'Wednesday,' an 'Alien' prequel and a dramatic retelling of the Amanda Knox trial all happening in August TVthe week recommends This month's new television releases include 'Alien: Earth,' 'The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox' and a new season of 'Wednesday'
-
How does a 401(k) hardship withdrawal work and is it smart to take one?the explainer More Americans than ever are resorting to this option in a pinch
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
