JD Vance Doubles Down On Trump’s Relentless Attacks On Jerome Powell

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday doubled down on President Donald Trump’s attacks on Jerome Powell, claiming the Federal Reserve chair has “been wrong about almost everything.”

In an interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, Vance said Trump’s relentless criticism of Powell is justified.

“I think the president is right about Jerome Powell,” he said. “He’s a nice guy but he’s been wrong about almost everything. He was way too late in combating the [Joe] Biden inflation, and now I think he’s way too late in actually helping us fight back against some of these ridiculous trade deals that have stolen the wealth of the American people.”

Earlier this week, the Fed announced it would keep interest rates unchanged, while warning that the risks for inflation and unemployment going up have risen, prompting the ire of Trump who dubbed Powell a “FOOL, who doesn’t have a clue” in a post on his Truth Social account.

Trump later said an interest rate cut would be “like jet fuel” for the U.S. economy, lamenting the Fed’s cautiousness as other central banks around the world lower their own rates.

“It would be great but he doesn’t want to do it. I think he doesn’t want to do it,” Trump said of Powell. “Probably he’s not in love with me. I think that’s right, it’s sort of a crazy reason, but that’s the way life is.”

Despite Trump’s words, Powell has made clear that the president’s combative tone “really doesn’t affect” the central bank’s decisions.

“We’re always going to do the same thing, which is we’re going to use our tools to foster maximum employment and price stability for the benefit of the American people,” he said during a press conference Wednesday. “We’re always going to consider only the economic data, the outlook, the balance of risks and that’s it.”

Trump previously threatened to fire Powell — a legally challenging move — but swiftly backtracked after his rhetoric on top of the uncertainty of his tariffs seemed to spook the markets.

In an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker broadcast Sunday, Trump confirmed he presently has no plans to remove Powell.

“Why would I do that?” he asked. “I get to replace the person in another short period of time.”

Trump first nominated Powell in the role during his first term in office. Former President Joe Biden chose to give him a second term, which is due to end in May 2026.

Vance also defended Trump’s recent statement that young children will just have to learn to live with fewer dolls as a result of his tariffs by telling American parents their kids could go to war.

“Would you like to — God forbid, if your country goes to war and your son or daughter is sent off to fight — would you like to know that the weapons that they have are good American-made stuff, not made by a foreign adversary?” he asked on Fox News.

“What President Trump is talking about is bringing back self-reliance to the United States economy,” he added.