Trump reportedly liked former Fed chair Janet Yellen's policies, didn't renominate her because she's so short

Former Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

(Image credit: Uwe Anspach/AFP/Getty Images)

published 28 November 2018

President Trump is very publicly unhappy with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome "Jay" Powell, who he nominated to lead the independent central bank in 2017. "I'm not happy with the Fed," Trump told The Washington Post on Tuesday. "So far, I'm not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay. Not even a little bit."

Trump blamed the Fed's policies for everything from GM closing North American plants to recent stock market declines. "I think the Fed is a much bigger problem than China," he said. On Monday, he told The Wall Street Journal something similar: "I think the Fed right now is a much bigger problem than China. ... I don't like what they're doing in terms of interest rates. And they're not being accommodative at all."

Trump has criticized the Fed for raising interest rates, a step economists say is necessary, thanks in part to the short-term boost in growth from Trump's tax cut. "Powell's appointment was very unusual, as he is not an economist," The Washington Post reports, and in his first term as a Fed governor, "Powell was seen as largely supportive of the slow-but-steady interest rate increase strategy used by then-Chair Janet L. Yellen." The Post continues:

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Trump considered reappointing Yellen to the post, and she impressed him greatly during an interview, according to people briefed on their encounter. But advisers steered him away from renominating her, telling him that he should have his own person in the job. The president also appeared hung up on Yellen's height. He told aides on the National Economic Council on several occasions that the 5-foot-3-inch economist was not tall enough to lead the central bank, quizzing them on whether they agreed, current and former officials said. [The Washington Post]

You can read more about Trump's struggles with the Fed at The Washington Post, and watch CNN's Chris Cuomo paint the larger picture below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.