In an irate post on social media, President Donald Trump launched into a familiar attack Friday against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but in doing so, appeared to have fumbled the spelling of the derogatory nickname he’s labeled the monetary policy chief.
Trump has been at war with Powell since last year, and has frequently raged at his refusal to lower interest rates to his liking, often dubbing him as “too late Powell." Trump again lobbed an attack on Powell with the familiar nickname, only this time with an apparent misspelling, writing "two" instead of "too."
“LOWER INTEREST RATES,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “‘Two Late’ Powell is the WORST!!!”
Trump has labeled the Fed chair as “too late Powell” since last summer, with his administration launching a fraud investigation into the Fed chair over expensive renovations to the central bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. Since then, Trump has threatened to replace Powell, who last month revealed in a defiant statement that Trump’s Justice Department was threatening him with criminal charges.
Trump has frequently published statements with misspellings and typos, including the misspelling of his own name, the misspelling of other figures’ names, and the misspelling of “United States.” Trump’s misspelled social media posts were observed to have increased in frequency as early as 2019, according to an analysis by Columbia University professor John McWhorter.
As for Powell, he’s remained defiant amid Trump’s relentless attacks.
“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Powell said in his statement last month.
“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”