Trump will ‘take over the Fed,’ ex-economic adviser Larry Kudlow predicts on ‘Pod Force One’

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s war with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell stretches all the way back to Trump’s first term and is likely to end in a total White House “takeover” of the central bank when Powell departs in May, former economic adviser Larry Kudlow told The Post’s Miranda Devine.

“Trump was furious at Powell in the first term for jacking up [interest] rates for no particular reason,” explained Kudlow on the latest episode of “Pod Force One,” out now.

“It’s sort of a sad tale. If it weren’t such serious business, it reads comedically to some extent; people yelling at each other,” the former director of the National Economic Council went on. “But look, the bottom line is: President Trump’s going to take the Fed over, as he should.”

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Powell joined the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2012 and was elevated to chairman in 2018.

The president has been calling for Powell to cut interest rates for months and hinting that he may fire the Fed chair before his term is up in 2026 — though he later walked the threats back.

“That is a big move, and I just don’t think it’s necessary. And I believe that he’s going to do the right thing,” Trump said of Powell after the pair toured the Fed’s Washington, DC, headquarters in late July.

The White House, Republicans in Congress and other Powell critics had knocked the $2.5 billion renovations taking place at Fed HQ, claiming its accoutrements would be more lavish and expensive than France’s Palace of Versailles.

Kudlow, now a Fox Business Network host, told Devine Trump is “right” to push for many changes at the Fed.

“A sort of moderate, moderate-type guy, really what I would call a sort of Wall Street consensus economist named Mohamed El-Erian — who’s a nice chap, he’s not a Trump supporter, he’s not a supply sider, he’s not part of what I would call ‘our group’ — but he came on the show about a month ago, or something like that, five, six weeks ago, and he called for Jay Powell’s resignation,” Kudlow recalled.

“And he said, with good logic he said, basically, ‘Look, Powell’s had such a zigzag approach at the Fed that the longer he stays, the worse the independence argument gets, and the worse the Fed’s credibility gets.’”

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Full Episode

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Kudlow also claimed that the central bank “set up a lot of DEI offices” through its network of regional financial institutions.

“Whether you’re an activist judge, or the chairman of the Federal Reserve, or the chairman or a member of the Federal Trade Commission, you shouldn’t block the president,” he expressed.

“He is the chief executive and the commander in chief — he’s elected by the people.”

Asked who he would choose to replace Powell, Kudlow answered: “I felt the two Kevins were the best, [current NEC Director] Kevin Hassett and [former Fed board member] Kevin Warsh. They’re both very dear friends of mine.”

“You need a top to bottom review of the Fed — everything — monetary policy, regulatory policy, personnel policy, staffing policy, economic models policy. There has to be a thorough going [over], and you need somebody from the outside and then bring in new people.”