Trump Says He Wasn't A 'big Fan' Of Fed Chair Jerome Powell And 'beat Him Up'

Former President Donald Trump took aim at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in a new interview Monday, saying he wasn’t a “big fan” of his.

“I had my own situation with Powell and I gave him hell,” Trump said in a new interview that aired Monday, Fox News host Sean Hannity. “I wasn’t a big fan of Powell. It was recommended by a few people. I didn’t like him, he’s too interest-hungry.”

Powell was appointed by Trump in 2018.

Trump’s administration and central bank have since been criticized for triggering the recent banking crisis by reversing many bank regulatory measures.

These included tools included in the Dodd-Frank banking reform package passed after the 2008 banking crisis.

Hannity asked Trump if he had backed the bailout of Silicon Valley Bank, an institution that failed in the second-biggest banking meltdown in the United States earlier this month.

Trump countered that he would not support a bailout, citing high interest rates as the cause of the bank’s failure.

“I would not have supported the rescue operation,” he said. “The bank would have to manage on their own and maybe they could have done that too. What happened to the bank when interest rates got too high.”

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Powell and the Federal Reserve came under fire last month after both the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed, sending shockwaves through the banking industry.

FDIC Spent $20 Billion to Deal with US Silicon Valley Bank Collapse and Considered More Government Support for Banking Industry: Report

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

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

Powell reiterated last week that the banking industry remains “healthy and resilient” following the collapse of the two banks.