Trump Is Out To End The Fed's Autonomy - And A Row Over A Condo Is At The Heart Of His Plan

Each Fed Governor's Departure Enables Trump To Build His Influence Over Its Policy Committee - With A View To Attaining A Majority

- Callum Jones

When Donald Trump stepped up his campaign to influence the US Federal Reserve, he travelled less than a mile from the White House to tour the central bank's headquarters. But as the administration considers how to actually get what it wants, one of the US president's acolytes looked about 500 miles south.

A condominium above the Four Seasons hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, is at the heart of an extraordinary battle over the future of the Fed, and the independence of its power over the world's largest economy.

For a generation, presidents have respected the Fed's autonomy. They might have disagreed with its decisions, but they allowed it to make long-term calls in the best interests of the economy, even if they caused short-term political discomfort.

Trump has ignored this precedent. Since returning to office in January, he has lambasted the Fed publicly and relentlessly - calling its chair, Jerome Powell, a "moron", a "numbskull" and a "disaster" - and accused the central bank of damaging the US economy by failing to cut interest rates.

As the Fed declined to lower rates at five consecutive meetings, Trump escalated his attacks, even suggesting (without evidence) that multi-billion dollar renovations of its Washington headquarters were tantamount to fraud.