Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve's decision to cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point, stating that it showed the US economy was either “very bad” or the central bank was “playing politics.” In interviews with Trump, the former president has suggested Fed Chair Jerome Powell could remain Fed chair if re-elected and accused him of political bias. Powell, a respected figure on Wall Street, is a registered Republican who previously worked in the U.S. Treasury under President George H.W. Bush and later became a partner at the Carlyle Group.