Trump Calls Fed Chair Powell an "Enemy" After Rate Hike Decision

President Trump posted on Twitter on August 23, 2019, asking "who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi," comparing the Federal Reserve chairman to the Chinese president amid a trade war. Trump had repeatedly attacked Powell as "clueless," "bone-headed," and a "golfer who can't putt" after the Fed raised rates four times in 2018. The White House counsel's office advised Trump that he lacked statutory authority to fire Powell for policy disagreements, establishing the legal dispute at the center of the modern Fed independence debate.