"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary has cautioned that Donald Trump's attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell could undermine global trust in U.S. financial markets.
What Happened: On Friday, O'Leary shared a video clip from his Fox News appearance on X, formerly Twitter, warning against politicizing the Fed's role.
"Whacking the Fed is not a good idea, period," he said. "This is a weird situation with this Fed renovation deal. Trump doesn't mind letting people watch sausages being made and that's what you saw there, but whacking the Fed is not about renovating buildings in Washington."
O'Leary defended the Federal Reserve's independence, calling it essential to maintaining global investor confidence.
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"What makes financial markets work globally is the understanding of the balance of the independence of the Fed to make these really important interest rate decisions," he said. "They get it right, they get it wrong, but the fact that they're independent is what gives comfort to trillions of dollars that comes rolling into the U.S."
In the video, O'Leary shared, Fox News correspondent Charles Gasparino agreed that Fed independence is vital but criticized Powell's track record.
O'Leary acknowledged past policy mistakes but stressed that removing Powell prematurely would jeopardize institutional credibility. "It's not enough to not let him run out his mandate," O'Leary said. "The orderly transition of the Fed chair is the whole deal."
Why It's Important: The comments came in response to Trump's ongoing clash with Powell over the $2.5 billion renovation project and repeated public criticisms of Powell's performance on inflation and interest rates.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought earlier slammed the Fed's renovation costs as excessive, comparing them to the Palace of Versailles.
Powell defended the spending as necessary for safety and functionality—amid speculation that Trump could use the overruns as justification to fire Powell.
On Thursday, in a rare visit to the Federal Reserve, Trump urged Powell to cut interest rates and criticized the Fed's costly renovation project, though he later clarified he has no plans to fire Powell despite their tensions.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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