BANKING RISKS

Big Name CEO Pushes Back as Trump Pounds Fed

The top GOP donor warns the president risks damaging investor confidence.

A hedge fund billionaire who voted for Donald Trump in the last election has lashed out at the president for his pressure tactics against the Federal Reserve.

Kenneth C. Griffin, the CEO of Citadel and a major Republican donor, penned a scathing article for The Wall Street Journal alongside Anil Kashyap, a University of Chicago professor and adviser to the Chicago Fed.

Griffin, who is worth an estimated $50.4 billion, and the adviser warned that Trump is playing a “risky game” by feuding with the nation’s central bank, which could have disastrous consequences for the economy.

“President Trump and his administration have made controlling inflation a priority. Lower inflation should naturally produce lower interest rates. But statements and actions that undermine the independence of the Fed risk stoking both higher inflation and higher long-term rates,” Griffin and Kashyap wrote.

“The president’s strategy of publicly criticizing the Fed, suggesting the dismissal of governors, and pressuring the central bank to adopt a more permissive stance toward inflation carries steep costs. These actions raise inflation expectations, increase market risk premiums, and weaken investor confidence in U.S. institutions.”

Trump has been openly criticizing the nonpartisan Fed for months, including personally targeting its leading figures. He has aimed particular fury at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, demanding the bank slash interest rates and pressuring Powell to resign, which Powell has steadfastly refused to do.

The president has accused Powell’s decision to hold rates between 4.25 percent and 4.5 percent of being politically motivated and biased against him.

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Trump has also attempted to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from her position over allegations of mortgage fraud involving the alleged listing of two properties as her primary residence, which Cook insists the president does not have the authority to do. Trump’s Department of Justice has since opened a criminal investigation into the allegations, which Cook denies.

Writing in the Journal, Griffin warned of the dangers of Trump’s politicized attacks against the Fed, and how these attacks—combined with his firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for claiming August’s underwhelming job numbers were “rigged”—have “damaged the credibility” of official economic data.

“Preserving credibility is essential because it benefits all Americans by keeping the costs of borrowing money lower, supporting sustainable growth, and maintaining global confidence in U.S. institutions,” Griffin wrote. “Once lost, it is costly and time-consuming to rebuild. Protecting it must remain the central priority of U.S. economic policy.”

Griffin added that if the Fed “visibly bows” to Trump’s pressure and permits inflation to rise, then “tens of millions of retired Americans will see their savings diminished.

“Senior voters—tired of bearing the brunt of inflation—could cost the administration dearly in the midterms,” he added.

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Griffin, who pumped more than $100 million into Republican campaigns during the 2024 cycle, admitted he voted for Trump in the last election but did not donate to his campaign.

In September 2022, Griffin told Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum that he doesn’t want a “three-time loser” as the next GOP presidential candidate and instead backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

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