In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, he had been Barack Obama’s token Republican appointee to the Federal Reserve Board. Once there, he emerged as a solid ally of Obama’s chair, Janet Yellen. In his first year in office, Trump had the option of reappointing Yellen, whose liberal fiscal policies and preference for low interest rates matched the perennially indebted former real estate developer’s desire to keep it easy to borrow money. But Yellen had been chosen by Obama so Trump wanted his own pick.
