Yellen, Ivanka Trump Had Breakfast Meeting as Fed Race Heated Up
Yellen’s public schedule shows that she had a breakfast meeting with Ivanka Trump on July 17.
(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka had a breakfast meeting on July 17 at the U.S. central bank, according to Yellen’s public schedule.
Eight days after their one-hour meeting in a private dining room at the Fed, the president told the Wall Street Journal that Yellen was “in the running, absolutely,” for a second term as chair after her current four-year stint expires in February.
Yellen has declined to comment on whether she’d like to stay in the job, and while Donald Trump has not said anything publicly to signal he’s decided against her, most economists polled by Bloomberg expect him to pick someone else.
A White House official, who requested anonymity to discuss a private conversation, said Ivanka Trump reached out to the Fed chair after reading a speech by Yellen about women’s participation in the economy.
On June 5, Ivanka Trump tweeted an excerpt of a speech Yellen, 71, gave a month earlier at Brown University in which she said: “Too many women struggle to combine aspirations for work and family.” The 35-year-old in May published her latest book, called “Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success.”
While the Fed chair has met regularly with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, the get-together with Ivanka was the first time that Yellen’s public schedule showed a meeting with a member of the Trump family. The Fed declined to comment. Cohn is among several other candidates seen as replacing Yellen.
--With assistance from Justin Sink
To contact the reporter on this story: Alister Bull in Washington at abull7@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor