When it comes to money and power, I can't think of a more common combo than peanut-butter and jam. If there is one thing that we have learned about Trump, it's that he likes money and he's willing to do just about anything to have more of it. From stiffing contractors, to throwing Wall street into chaos with his tariffs just to buy the dip. According to an article by Forbes in September of 2025 Trump's net worth has increased by $3 billion since he started his second term. It seems that while he reportedly lost money during his first term, the four years he was out of office wasn't entirely spent hiding documents and yelling about "rigged elections", he also developed a strategy to profit heavily should he be re-elected.

It's quite apparent that Trump's second term has been vastly different to his first. Mainly due to the sycophants he has surrounded himself with, and installed into various government roles. The D.O.J., the F.B.I., congress, they are all under his thumb because they all pledge fealty to Trump. But one trump-appointee, a hold out from his less-lucrative first term, is the chairman of the Federal Reserve: Jerome Powell.

Despite Powell being a Trump nominee, he has upheld the independent nature of the federal reserve, not giving into the pressure Trump has mounted on them. The federal reserve is an independent body for a good reason. The executive should not have their hands on the coffers that congress is constitutionally bound to control. That is the American people's money, and the elected officials should be the ones to spend it in the best interest of their constituents.

Now here's where the federal reserve and, more specifically, Jerome Powell, become a major thorn in Trump's side. They are the body responsible for setting federal interest rates. They constantly have their finger on the pulse of the American economy, and therefore are in the best position to determine what rates should be in order to maintain stability. As we have already concluded Trump likes money, a lot, and higher interest rates means less money when borrowing. This hasn't sat well with Trump as evidenced by his very public insults and demonization of Powell in an attempt to pressure the fed to cut interest rates.

One of the mechanisms Trump has used this term that vastly differs from his last is what we spoke about before, installing yes-men into as many positions of power as he can. This allows him to use one arm of the government to wrestle a less-subservient one. Enter Pam Bondi - attorney general at the department of justice. A woman who has already publicly taken orders from Trump to go after his political opponents. This is how Lindsay Halligan, an insurance lawyer, was allowed to federally indict former F.B.I. director James Comey and New York attorney general Letitia James - two outspoken opponents of Trump. In hindsight it was inevitable that time would run out for the person Trump likes to call "too-late" Powell.

Sure enough, overnight Powell released a video stating "...the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June."

Fortunately, many government officials, republican and democrats alike, have spoken out against this attempt to undermine the independence of the federal reserve. As Powell also stated: "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."

We will watch this closely as it continues to unfold, hopefully the pushback by G.O.P. senators, house representatives, and the public are enough to get the Trump administration to back down. That outcome, however, seems historically unlikely.