STORY: Donald Trump says he won't try to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Speaking to NBC News in an interview that aired Sunday, the president-elect said he didn't think the central bank boss would agree to go.
Trump campaigned on a promise to lower mortgage rates and other borrowing costs for U.S. households, setting up a possible clash with Powell.
TRUMP: "I will end inflation."
His promise of across-the-board tariffs could also complicate the Fed's bid to curb rising prices.
TRUMP: "The American dream, we're gonna bring it back."
Last month, Powell said he would resist any bid to push him out, arguing that would be against the law.
POWELL: "I'll certainly serve to the end of my chair term".
He was appointed to the job by Trump, during his first term as president.
However, the relationship between the pair soon soured.
In late 2018, Trump privately discussed trying to dismiss Powell, angered by an increase in interest rates.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, he accused the Fed boss of making bad decisions, and argued he had the right to replace him.
Such attacks broke decades of political precedent, which held that presidents should refrain from direct attacks on the central bank.
The Federal Reserves operates with legal independence, subject to oversight by Congress.
Traders currently expect it to cut interest rates at a December policy meeting, following data that showed the labor market continuing to cool.
