Trump knocks Fed's Powell, muses about appointing himself to lead central bank

By Jeff Mason and Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday knocked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for what he expected would be a decision not to lower interest rates and said the man he put in the role during his last term had done a poor job.

Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, mused about appointing himself to lead the U.S. central bank, based on his dissatisfaction with Powell.

"Maybe I should go to the Fed," Trump said. "Am I allowed to appoint myself at the Fed? I'd do a much better job than these people."

Trump has long criticized Powell and sparked market concern earlier this year when he suggested the central bank chief's termination couldn't come fast enough. Trump has since walked back from that rhetoric, saying he would not fire Powell before his term as chair ends next year, but he has not held back on his broader criticism and has made clear that he will not ask Powell to stay on as the central bank's leader.

"What I'm going to do is, you know, he gets out in about nine months, he has to, he gets fortunately terminated ... I would have never reappointed him, (President Joe) Biden reappointed him. I don't know why that is, but I guess maybe he was a Democrat... he's done a poor job," Trump said.

The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as its policymakers weigh signs of a cooling economy, the risk of higher inflation from U.S. import tariffs, and the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

Trump expressed disappointment in advance of the decision and underscored his belief that the Fed had been too late at cutting rates.

"I call him 'too late Powell' because he's always too late. I mean, if you look at him, every time I did this I was right 100%, he was wrong," Trump said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)