Trump says he was not a ‘big fan’ of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and ‘beat the hell out of him’

Former President Donald Trump took aim at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in a new interview on Monday, saying that he was not a “big fan” of him.

“I had my own situation with Powell and I beat the hell out of him,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in a new interview that aired Monday. “I was not a big fan of Powell. He was recommended by some people. I didn’t like him, he’s too interest rate happy.”

Powell was appointed by Trump in 2018.

Trump’s administration and the central bank have since faced criticism for sparking the latest banking crisis by rolling back many banking regulatory measures.

Those included tools that were included in the Dodd-Frank banking reform package passed after the 2008 banking crisis.

Hannity asked Trump whether he would have supported bailing out Silicon Valley Bank, an institution that failed earlier this month in the second-largest bank failure in United States.

Trump responded that he would not support a bail out and cited high-interest rates as the cause of the bank’s failure.

“I wouldn’t have supported the bail out,” he said. “The bank would have to get along by itself and maybe they could have. What happened with the bank as interest rates went too high.”

Powell and the Federal Reserve have faced sharp criticism over the last month after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank both collapsed and sent shockwaves through the banking industry.

A senate panel will hear from top federal regulators Tuesday about the recent bank failures as lawmakers continue to voice their concerns about the banking industry.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said earlier this month that Powell “took a flamethrower” to banking regulations.

Powell reiterated last week that the banking industry remains “sound and resilient” in the wake of the collapse of the two banks.

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