Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve chairman, wins Trump praise for emergency actions

It took a pandemic to bring President Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell together.

The president revealed Monday that he called the embattled Fed chairman to compliment him on the central bank’s emergency actions to rescue the economy that is struggling against the coronavirus outbreak.

“I am happy with him,” the president told reporters. “I called him today and I said, ’Jerome, good job.’ I really think he’s caught up and he’s done the right thing.”

Leading up to the pandemic, the president has repeatedly criticized Mr. Powell and the Fed for failing to cut interest rates rapidly to help the economy and stay competitive with other countries. He also has blasted Mr. Powell for the Fed raising interest rates in 2018.

In the past few weeks, the Fed has taken several emergency actions to provide cash flow to businesses, loosen lending and ease the credit crunch for corporations and consumers.

“Ultimately we will be rewarded because of the decisions he made … he’s really stepped up over the last week,” the president said of Mr. Powell.

The president said that in the past, Mr. Powell “was a little bit slower than I would have liked.”

But the president said of Mr. Powell’s recent leadership of the Fed, “I was proud of him. That took courage. He’s not finished. He’s got other arrows in the quiver. I’m very happy with the job he did.”