President Donald Trump has made no secret of his wish for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates aggressively to stimulate the economy. Indeed, he has repeatedly called for the Fed to immediately cut the fund rate by as much as three percentage points, even when inflation is above the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target. He has not missed an opportunity to castigate Fed Chair Jerome Powell for keeping interest rates too high.

Trump has also made no secret of his intention to stack the Fed’s board with his nominees and to appoint a new Fed Chair to replace Jerome Powell when his term ends in May next year, with someone who will do his bidding. He is seeking to remove Lisa Cook from the Fed’s board; he has managed to get Stephen Miran, his former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, on the board, and he has tasked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to find a dovish replacement for Jerome Powell.

Before proceeding further along these lines, Trump should be very careful about........

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