Fed boss says he won't resign, even if Donald Trump asks him to

The result of the American presidential election, which saw the victory of former President Donald Trump, will not have “no short-term effect” on the decisions taken by the American central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), in terms of monetary policy, assured Thursday the president of the institution, Jerome Powell.

“In the short term, the elections will have no effect on our decisions”assured Mr. Powell, “we do not know what the timing and type of reforms will be and therefore we do not know what the effects on the economy may be. We don't guess, we don't speculate, we don't suppose..

The Fed lowered its rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday as expected, welcoming the drop in inflation and the easing of the job market. This new cut, which places rates in the range of 4.50 to 4.75%, comes after that of half a point in September – the first since March 2020.

Tumultuous relationship

Jerome Powell also affirmed that he would not resign, even if Donald Trump asked him to do so. “No,” simply replied Mr. Powell, whose term ends in 2026, to the question of whether he would leave or not in the event of a request to this effect from the Republican candidate. “No,” he repeated when asked if he thought he would be legally obligated to leave if asked by the president.

Mr. Powell was chosen in 2012 by former Democratic President Barack Obama to join the Fed's Board of Governors, and was promoted to president in 2018 by… Donald Trump. But he then vehemently criticized the actions of the Fed and its president, independent of political power but who did not lower rates enough for his liking.

Despite this tumultuous relationship, and his desire to influence the decisions of the Fed, Donald Trump signaled in July that he could let Jerome Powell continue his term as head of the Fed, in 2026. He could even remaining Fed governor until 2028, with these two terms having separate end dates.