People close to Trump are considering limiting the independence of the Fed

(Updated with reaction from the campaign team)

April 26 (Reuters) – Allies of Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump are working on a series of proposals that would erode the independence of the Federal Reserve if the former president wins, according to information from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, which cited sources familiar with the matter.

A small group of supporters of the former president wrote a document of around ten pages, which notably recommends that Donald Trump be consulted before any decision on rates and that he could end the mandate of the current president of the Fed , Jerome Powell, before its planned end in 2026, according to the American daily.

The Wall Street Journal was unable to determine whether Donald Trump was aware of these proposals or encouraged them, but authoritative sources believe that these thoughts received his approval.

The former president had several informal discussions with his advisers about possible candidates for the position of Fed chairman and asked people close to him if they would be interested in the position, according to the daily.

“Let me be clear: Unless a message comes directly from President Trump or an authorized speaking member of his campaign team, nothing about the president’s policies or future team should be considered as official,” the ex-president’s campaign vice chairs, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, told Reuters.

Donald Trump appointed Jerome Powell to head the Fed in 2027, but quickly turned against him. In February, the Republican contender said he would not reappoint him and that he believed the Fed could cut rates to help President Joe Biden’s reelection. (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bangalore, French version Corentin Chappron, editing by Kate Entringer and Sophie Louet)