President Trump is “very close” to nominating a Federal Reserve vice chairman for supervision and another governor to fill a designated seat for an individual with community bank expertise, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was interviewed with Trump by the Wall Street Journal.
Trump changed course from previous statements about Fed Chairman Janet Yellen, whose term expires early next year. Trump told the Journal that she was “not toast” and added: “I like her, I respect her. It’s very early.” During the 2016 campaign, Trump had signaled that he would not reappoint Yellen over her approach to monetary policy, but in today’s interview, he said that he “do[es] like a low-interest rate policy, I must be honest with you.”
During the interview, Trump also said that he would fill vacancies on the Export-Import Bank board, allowing the bank to make larger loan guarantees again — a long-standing priority for the American Bankers Association and its trade finance subsidiary, BAFT. “Instinctively, you would say, ‘Isn’t that a ridiculous thing,’” Trump commented about Ex-Im. “But actually, it’s a very good thing. And it actually makes money, it could make a lot of money.”
