President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his pick to lead the Federal Reserve would not have received the job offer had he expressed a desire to raise interest rates. <\/p>\n
And while he said he believes the central bank is \u201cin theory\u201d an \u201cindependent body,\u201d Trump suggested the Fed should follow his lead because he thinks he knows the economy \u201cbetter than almost anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking with \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d anchor Tom Llamas in an extensive interview, Trump said there was \u201cnot much\u201d doubt in his mind that interest rates would soon be lowered. Pressed about how he could be so sure, he said: \u201cI just think they\u2019re going to be lowered. I mean, they should be lower.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tune in for more of Tom Llamas\u2019 interview with President Donald Trump on Super Bowl Sunday on NBC.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re way high, OK?\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe\u2019re way high in interest. We have now, with me and with all the money, I\u2019m \u2014 I\u2019ve always been good at money \u2014 and with all the money coming into our country, we\u2019re a rich country again. We have debt, but we also have growth, and the growth will soon make the debt look very small.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause there\u2019s \u2014 the greatest way \u2014 you have two ways,\u201d Trump continued. \u201cYou can cut, cut, cut, and we do that anyway, and we did that. You know, we got rid of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. And those workers went out and got themselves jobs in the free enterprise system. And you know what? That\u2019s called making America great again. We had 10 workers in the federal government for every single job. When the Democrats go in, they hire. I could right now give you the best employment numbers in history. You know what I do? Go out and hire 2 million people, put \u2019em in the federal government. I do the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n Llamas asked Trump whether Kevin Warsh, a former member of the Federal Reserve\u2019s board of governors whom Trump tapped to be the central bank\u2019s next chair, understands that he wants him to lower interest rates.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he does, but I think he wants to anyway,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI mean, if he came in and said, \u2018I want to raise them …\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIf he said that, he wouldn\u2019t have gotten the job?\u201d Llamas interjected.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would not have gotten the job,\u201d Trump responded. \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressed about whether he believes the chairman of the Federal Reserve answers to the president or heads an independent body, Trump said: \u201cWell, I mean, in theory it\u2019s an independent body.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think, you know, I\u2019m a smart guy,\u201d he continued. \u201cI know the economy better than almost everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump announced last week that he had officially nominated Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell, the current chair. Trump has chastised Powell for months for not making more aggressive rate cuts.<\/p>\n The Fed chair does not have unilateral control of the interest rates set by the central bank. They\u2019re decided by the Federal Open Market Committee, which is made up of 12 members<\/a>, with seven permanent governors and a rotating slate of four regional reserve bank presidents and the president of the New York Fed.<\/p>\n In January, the central bank kept interest rates steady<\/a> after three consecutive months of cuts, with only two members in favor of a rate cut. Powell in recent months has defended the Fed\u2019s direction, saying the decisions are based on where inflation and the labor market stand.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, there\u2019ll be times if I see inflation on the horizon. But we don\u2019t have that,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe have low inf\u2014 remember, 1.2% inflation the last three months. We have low inflation, and we have tremendous growth. You haven\u2019t had these numbers like, right? We have \u2014 think of it, low inflation, great growth. Now all I have to do is one thing, easy, get down the interest rates.\u201d<\/p>\n The annual rate of inflation in December was 2.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2019 Consumer Price Index. Throughout the first year of Trump\u2019s second term<\/a>, the rate of inflation has ranged from 2.3% to 3%. It has fallen significantly from highs in 2022 during President Joe Biden\u2019s term, though inflation had come down to similar levels during the final year of Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n