Vice President Vance praised Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as a man in a recent interview, but thought Powell “almost everything is wrong”.
“Well, first of all, I think the president is right about Jerome Powell. Jerome Powell.
“So, I think Jerome Powell is wrong about this,” he told host Martha MacCallum.
President Trump has criticized the Fed’s chairman in recent weeks. When asked earlier Thursday if he planned to meet with Powell, the president described it as “like talking on a wall.”
“Well, Bank of England cuts, China cuts, everyone is cutting,” Trump said. “We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s shameful. I call him ‘too late.'”
Trump’s criticism comes the day after the central bank decided not to lower interest rates, and despite the president’s pressure, they remained in the 4.25% to 4.5%.
“The labor market is stable and inflation is low. As things go, we have the ability to be patient. At this point, our waiting has no real cost yet.”
The Fed chairman added: “There is a lot of uncertainty about where … tariff policies are going to be addressed and what will impact on the economy, growth and employment when they are addressed.”
Powell was nominated as chairman of the Federal Reserve by Trump in 2017 and reappointed by Biden.
Vance also defended Trump’s tariff agenda in a Fox News interview, saying the Trump administration has inherited the “highest peacetime deficit” in the country’s history.
“We have $34 trillion in debt and are growing under the economy of Joe Biden. The president is very honest with the American people. You won’t do the same by doing the same under the Biden administration, or frankly, we’ve been in this country for 40 years. We have to do it for 40 years in this country. We have to drive this country in a different direction in this country,” President Watt said.
“We have to renegotiate some of these trade deals. We have to open foreign markets to make things made in the United States more self-reliant,” Vance added. “These are long-term dramas.”