Republican presidential candidate Trump said on Thursday that the president should have some say in interest rates and monetary policy, which is his clearest statement on his interest in violating the independence of the Federal Reserve. This would violate the long-standing practice of the Federal Reserve being independent of political actions.

"I think, for me, I've made a lot of money. I'm very successful," Trump said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach on Thursday. "I think, in many ways, my gut is better than theirs, believe it or not."

Trump frequently expresses frustration that the executive branch does not have greater influence over interest rates. On Thursday, he criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, saying he was rating-adjusting "a little too early or a little too late."

Powell has promised not to let political pressure influence the Fed's decisions. Since the late 1970s, presidents have traditionally resisted publicly criticizing the Fed's rates.

Powell and his colleagues have kept the benchmark rate at its highest level in more than 20 years since July 2023 to curb inflation. But with a weak labor market, especially after the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in July, some economists criticized officials for waiting too long to cut rates.

Fed policymakers are now widely expected to cut rates at the next meeting in mid-September, when some states have already begun early voting. Trump has said he believes the Fed should not cut interest rates as the election approaches. However, he has often stated in campaign speeches that if he wins a second term, he hopes to cut interest rates.

Trump is uncertain about what role the executive branch should play in interest rates. In an interview with Business Week earlier this summer, Trump said he would focus on cutting costs so that the Fed could subsequently cut interest rates. At a rally in Pennsylvania last week, Trump confused interest rate cuts with other policies that are more in the president's jurisdiction.

Trump said in a campaign event on July 31, "We will cut regulation, reduce energy prices, lower interest rates, we will lower prices, we will lower prices soon."

According to The Wall Street Journal in April, Trump's allies have drafted proposals that would attempt to weaken the independence of the Fed if he is elected. At that time, Trump's campaign team did not acknowledge the report. But his comments on Thursday indicated that he is fully in line with a major target of the proposal: if he becomes president, he should be consulted on interest rate decisions, and the Fed's bank regulatory proposal should be subject to White House review.

The next U.S. president - Trump or Democratic candidate Kamala Harris - will have the opportunity to select the next Federal Reserve chairman in the first two years of his or her term. One way to violate the independence of the Federal Reserve is to nominate a candidate who is willing to obey Trump's desire to control the Fed and secure confirmation for him.

Economists fear that this could lead to the kind of policy mistakes that occurred in the early 1970s. At that time, Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns was appointed under pressure from his President Nixon to maintain an expansionary monetary policy before the 1972 election, even though there were signs that inflationary pressures were building. By 1974, inflation had risen above 12% and was a scourge for the next decade until Fed Chairman Paul Volcker controlled inflation through a significant increase in interest rates, triggering two recessions in the early 1980s.

Current Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's term will end in 2026, and his seat on the Federal Reserve Board will expire in 2028.