Trump now says "I like" Fed Chair Janet Yellen
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump says he hasn't made a decision yet on whether he'll renominate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for another term, but he says he respects her "a lot."
Asked about Yellen by reporters on Air Force One on a trip back from Florida on Thursday, Trump said, "I like her, and I respect her."
The president also noted that the economy is doing well, with the stock market hitting new highs, unemployment very low and companies moving jobs back from overseas.
Separately, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a conference in Washington that he has enjoyed working with Yellen but that Trump has "a lot of great candidates" to choose from if he decides to pick someone else when Yellen's term ends in February.
However, with the Fed now embarked on a policy of gradual monetary policy tightening, that is, raising interest rates and winding down its bloated $4.4 trillion balance sheet, some of those positives trends that Mr. Trump is pleased to see could come to an end. And that wouldn't help Yellen's future job prospects as head of the Fed.
