Trump Feud with Powell Heats Up
Author: Greg Valliere
December 30, 2025
We had hoped that world trouble spots would cool off during this holiday break — the Caribbean, Ukraine, Gaza, etc.
That certainly doesn’t apply to the worsening relations between Donald Trump and Jerome Powell; the President is threatening litigation after calling Powell “an absolute fool.”
In scathing comments yesterday, Trump said a lawsuit would be based on “gross incompetence” in renovating the central bank’s headquarters.
The price tag has soared to $4 billion, far above than the $300 million cost estimate for the White House east wing project.
Trump continues to complain about Powell’s reluctance to cut the federal funds rate aggressively — although the red hot economy may not need much more medicine.
GDP rose by 4.3 percent in the third quarter — how could Trump complain? Does he need a foil that badly?
Powell’s term as Chairman expires this spring, and his three likely replacements appear to be “easy money” advocates. Our hunch is that current Gov. Christopher Waller is the frontrunner.
Our bottom line is that regardless of who is nominated, Trump will criticize any interest rate cut as timid, and the bond market will begin to worry about too much medicine for an economy that doesn’t need any more.
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