Katerina Simonetti, Senior Executive Director and First Vice President at Morgan Stanley, has downplayed former U.S.
President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, labeling them as “political noise” with no real bearing on financial markets or monetary policy decisions.
Speaking on CNBC’s Fast Money, Simonetti dismissed the significance of Trump’s ongoing criticisms, recalling similar remarks from 2019 when Trump mockingly referred to Powell as a “bad short-game golfer.”
The latest barrage from Trump comes amid growing debate over interest rate policy. Trump accused Powell of being consistently late in responding to economic pressures and expressed his desire to remove him from office.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump even stated that Powell’s removal “can’t happen fast enough,” hinting at potential legal efforts to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court.
Simonetti, however, emphasized that monetary policy decisions are driven by economic data, not political tensions. “Recent tariffs are adding significant inflationary pressure, and that’s what Powell is really focused on,” she said.
She also noted that a rate cut in 2025 is highly unlikely and expressed confidence that Powell will complete his current term as Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
