Hi, Mr. . Chairman. Jay O'Brien, ABC News.President Trump has obviously invoked your name a lot. He has personally pressured you. Are you concerned the way that conduct might impact the Fed's independence going forward.I'll just say that um so I I think that having an independent central bank has been an institutional arrangement that has served the public well and as long as it serves the public well, it should continue and be respected. If it didn't serve the public well, then then it wouldn't be somethin ...

I actually think the most important thing going on right now in terms of the Fed's independence is what's happening for the the successor to the Fed chairman. The president is making very clear that his successor is expected to cut interest rates. So, whoever gets the job is going to have to make some implicit or explicit promise to the president of the United States that he's cutting interest rates.And to me, that's compromised independence. Do you think that the Fed should be an independent entity of the ...

Is the Fed truly independent. Absolutely the Fed is. I think Chairman Powell has been very clear about that.He uh is consistent in that messaging and you know what they do uh is really based on the data. They they're very consistent with that. Uh they're going to react to the data. They're not going to react to outside forces to determine the path of of monetary policy.And that comes down to picking the Fed chair as well, right. I mean, you would hope that the FOMC members are not just calling for rate cuts ...