Trump's war against the Powell Fed has taken another political turn

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell mostly breezed through two hearings on Capitol Hill this week but now heads into a much bigger challenge: a potential threat that President Donald Trump could undermine his authority by soon naming his pick to head the central bank next year

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell mostly breezed through two hearings on Capitol Hill this week but now heads into a much bigger challenge: a potential threat that President Donald Trump could undermine his authority by soon naming his pick to head the central bank next year.

As Powell testified Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee, holding generally cordial exchanges with lawmakers, Trump was at the NATO summit in The Hague lobbing his latest attacks on a man he had nominated for the Fed job nearly eight years ago.

“I think he’s terrible,” Trump said when asked during a news conference about his intentions for the next Fed leader. Trump then called Powell a “very average mentally person,” adding he has “a low IQ for what he does” and is “a very political guy.”

“I think he is a very stupid person, actually,” Trump said.

While Trump’s name-calling of Powell isn’t particularly new, the words now could signal action.