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Jun 7, 2019

Fed chair Powell spoke to Trump in April, calendar shows

Courtenay Brown
Trump walks out with Fed's Jerome Powell to announce him as his nominee for the next chair of the Federal Reserve in the Rose Garden

Trump walks with Fed chairman Jerome Powell in 2017. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

President Trump and Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell spoke on the phone on for 5 minutes on April 11, according to Powell's calendar released by the Fed, just days after Trump echoed other administration officials in publicly calling on the central bank to cut interest rates.

The big picture: It's not unusual for a president to communicate with the Fed chair, but Trump's continued needling to cut interest rates and departure from the presidential norm of respecting the Fed's political independence makes the dynamic between the two men unusual.

  • Trump and Powell also had dinner in February and spoke in March, the WSJ points out.
  • Powell, who spent more time in his first year as Fed chair meeting with members of Congress than his predecessor, had 7 meetings with lawmakers in the month of April alone.
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