Karoline Leavitt Dodges Question on Fed’s Independence — Then Concedes Trump Believes In It

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt danced around a question on whether President Donald Trump believes in the Federal Reserve’s independence on Monday, one day after the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell. 

Leavitt was asked whether Trump believed the Fed “should operate independently from him.” She dodged it at first, but then answered it when a White House reporter asked the same question again.

“The president has made it quite clear he thinks Jerome Powell is bad at his job. And the president has made it quite clear — as have many economists, by the way — that interest rates should be lowered and should have been lowered a long time ago,” Leavitt responded initially.

When the reporter reiterated the question, Leavitt said of course, the president thinks the Fed should operate on its own.

“He has [said it should be independent], and he’s said that many times,” Leavitt said.

Her comment comes a month after the president posted on Truth Social, “Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!”

Leavitt’s answer also followed the news on Sunday night that Powell was facing a criminal investigation over the multi-year renovation of the Fed building.

Powell said that was not the case in a two-minute video where he claimed the probe was due to his unwillingness to lower interest rates — not the renovation.

He described it as a “consequence” of not adhering to the president’s demands to lower rates. He also said the DOJ served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas on Friday over his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on the renovation project last year.

Trump appointed Powell as the head of the Fed during his first term, but their relationship has soured since then.

The president has routinely bashed Powell for not moving quickly enough in his view to cut rates and has branded him with the nickname “Too Late.”

He told reporters in late December he was considering suing Powell for “gross incompetence.”

Trump said he was aiming to sue Powell because the cost of renovating the Fed building had gotten out of control. Trump said the cost was north of $4 billion now — about $1.5 billion more than projected.

“It’s going to end up costing more than $4 billion — $4 billion! It’s the highest price of construction,” Trump said. “Again, Democrats — highest price of construction per square foot in the history of the world. Gorgeous monuments are built for a much smaller price. So we’re thinking about bringing… what’s called [a] gross incompetence lawsuit.”

Trump said it was only right, considering the project was Powell’s “baby.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) on Sunday night said the criminal probe called the “independence and credibility” of the Justice Department into question under Trump. He also said he would oppose the confirmation of a new Fed chair until the legal battle was resolved.

Leavitt on Monday told reporters she had not talked to Trump about the senator’s remarks.

Watch above via C-SPAN.