Trump’s Powell problem

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, Daily News, Politics, Government

3.9 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2026

⏱️ 15 minutes

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Summary

The Justice Department’s investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell is still sending shockwaves through Washington and beyond. As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver a speech on the economy Tuesday, the headlines are still being dominated by Powell. Scores of Republicans are denouncing the move, and some inside the White House are concerned the push to target Powell is distracting from other issues the administration would rather focus on. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns discuss how the fallout is threatening Trump’s agenda.

Transcript

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0:30.1	Today on the Playbook podcast, Donald Trump heads to Detroit to talk about the economy.
0:35.2	But back in D.C., everyone is still talking about Jerome Powell.
0:40.2	And it's Decision Day on Iran, the president will be briefed this morning on options for both
0:44.2	military and non-military action. Hello, I'm Jack Blanchard. And I'm Dasha Burns. It is Tuesday,
0:50.9	January 13th. Dash, all anyone was talking about yesterday in D.C. was J. Powell and the investigation into him.
1:00.0	We're now sitting here 36 hours on from when we learned that this investigation was happening.
1:04.4	I am going to posit something.
1:05.8	This looks like a total screw-up and a total nightmare for the administration.
1:10.4	What do you reckon?
1:11.6	Here's what I will say, according to sources I have been talking to. This was not expected by
1:19.2	the president's most senior advisors. This caught the West Wing off guard. And I have not been able to
1:26.1	find anyone who is pleased with this action.
1:31.8	I lost count yesterday of the number of senior Republicans who either completely condemn the
1:37.4	decision to investigate J. Powell and potentially bring charges against J. Powell, or were very,
1:42.1	very clearly, deeply uncomfortable with it.
1:44.5	I started doing a tally in the morning.
1:46.0	By the end of the day, I'd completely lost count.
	...

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