Editorial
The Perils of Trump's Federal Reserve Ploy
New threats to oust Powell over interest rates
AP Photo/Erin Hooley
How does construction measure its gains or losses in President Donald Trump’s first 90 days in office?
There’s good reason to ask, now that his post-election program has so far, by its tactics more than its end goal, turned out to be far different than anything described during the campaign. The Wall Street Journal headline that said it best was, “How Wall Street and Business Got Trump Wrong.” Certainly, there are winners, such as steelmakers that want further curbs on imports or apartment developers with buildings ready to rent who know that new projects will be hampered as the cost of imported materials rise.
But there also are losers, such as other developers and homeowners who are frozen with uncertainty and concerns about inflation if not recession.
Engineers and contractors could never have anticipated that Trump would block Congressionally authorized project funds or launch a tariff program of this scale and magnitude. The president crossed another threshold recently with his latest attempts to muscle another quasi-independent government institution, the Federal Reserve, which controls the nation’s money supply and sets the Federal funds interest rate.
The president’s criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell—who warned of the inflationary impact of tariffs—reached a new level in April. Referring to Powell’s most recent Federal Reserve report as a “complete ‘mess!’” on social media site Truth Social, Trump claimed that the price of groceries had come down and the “USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS.”
Unlike the European Central Bank, which has been lowering interest rates, Trump blurted that Powell should have been doing the same and his “termination cannot come fast enough!”
Inflation and Interest Rates
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Later at the White House, Trump told reporters, “If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me.” Although on April 22 Trump seemed to back away from that pledge, his feelings are clear.
Powell, who’s chairmanship doesn’t expire until May 2026, apparently irritated Trump, who has criticized Powell before, by expressing worries about the effect of tariffs on inflation and the job market. Inflation had been falling when Trump campaigned against Vice President Kamala Harris, partly by blaming her and former President Joe Biden for the rising cost of living.
Tariffs have the potential to heat up inflation and perhaps surpass anything from pandemic era supply-chain snags, pandemic rescue funds or spending under the Biden administration.
Some possible darker consequences of Trump’s reach for control of the Federal Reserve, such as the end of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reliable reserve currency, may shake the faith of even the most ardent exponents of government economic control.
We like low interest rates. They trigger private development and construction. But the sticker shock of pandemic era inflation has not completely faded and, as of now, directly and indirectly, the Trump administration has delayed or cancelled billions in construction.
Hopefully, that’s not one accomplishment it wants to be known for.
