US President Donald Trump has never concealed his mounting disdain for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, but his latest remark earlier last month drew attention, as he expressed surprise over Powell’s “appointment”, seemingly forgetting that he was the one who originally appointed him to the role in 2018.“I was surprised he was appointed,” Trump said during an Oval Office press interaction with the Crown Prince of Bahrain on Wednesday, July 16.Moments after expressing surprise over Powell’s appointment as Federal Reserve Chair, Trump seemed to recall that he was the one who first nominated Powell in 2018 to succeed Janet Yellen during his first term. “I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him,” Trump said, referring to Joe Biden’s decision to reappoint Powell for a second term in 2021, a move that received broad bipartisan support in the Senate.Trump’s comments suggested he may have momentarily forgotten his own role in naming Powell to the top Fed job during the second year of his first term.Powell was later renominated for a second term by President Joe Biden in 2021, receiving broad bipartisan support in the Senate.The president’s apparent gaffe came just a day after he gave a rambling speech in Pittsburgh, where he falsely claimed that his uncle, a physicist who worked on radar during World War II, had taught Theodore Kaczynski also known as “Unabomber” at MIT — even though that never happened.The US president has frequently voiced frustration with Powell’s leadership, particularly over interest rate decisions.Trump had several times criticised Powell for not cutting rates more aggressively, drawing comparisons with recent rate cuts by the European Central Bank. Recently on Thursday, Trump criticised Powell harshly on social media following the central bank’s decision to maintain current interest rates for the fifth straight meeting.“Jerome “Too Late” Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair. He is costing our Country TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS, in addition to one of the most incompetent, or corrupt, renovations of a building(s) in the history of construction! Put another way, “Too Late” is a TOTAL LOSER, and our Country is paying the price!”His criticism came just days after Trump and Powell had what seemed like a friendly meeting at the Federal Reserve headquarters, where they looked over renovation work at the building.
