Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s odds of remaining part of the Trump administration are falling about as quickly as the stock market, a report said.
President Trump, already seething at the Federal Reserve over the market’s poor performance, is weighing getting rid of Mnuchin, whose future may depend on the market rebounding, .
But Trump said he still had confidence in Mnuchin when asked by reporters during an Oval Office appearance 🍬after a Christmas Day phone call to US troops.
“Yes I do,” Trump responded to questions about Mnuchin. “Very talented, very smart person.”
The development comes after Mnuchin, in an effort to assure investors shaken by the falling stock market, reached out to the heads of the six major banks on Sunday to see if they had enough cash on hand in advance of Monday’s opening bell.
Instead of assuaging their concerns, Mnuchin’s message further unnerved Wall Street.
The Dow plummeted by 653 points, marking the worst Ch🌊ristmas Eve in its 122 year history.
The market is now on track to have its worst🀅 performance since the Great Deꦆpression.
In a sign that Trump may have lost faith in his Treasury secretary, he has asked🌞 if another member of his staff could meet with Federal Reseꦅrve Chairman Jerome Powell, the report said.
Such a meeting would undermine Mnuchin, who sits down with Powell every week to relay the White House’s views.
“There are p🃏lenty of people inside the White House ♓who are not fans of Mnuchin who are happy to throw him under the bus,” Stephen Myrow, a former Treasury official and managing partner at Beacon Policy Advisors in Washington, D.C., told Bloomberg. “Up ’til now, he’s been protected by the fact that Trump liked him and he’s been a loyalist.”
Bu🌳t Trump has also expressed his frustration with Powell for raising interest rates that the ൲president blames for the market tanking.
He continue🉐d to criticize the Fed during the Oval Office appearance.
“They’re raising interest rates too fast. They think the economy is so good but I think that they will get it pretty soon, I really do,” he said. “The fact is the economy is doing so well they’re raising interest rates.”
as the market began its free fa🐻ll, he likened the Fed to a poor golfer.
“The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!,” Trump wrote on his Twitter page.