The president wants to cut interest rates, but the Federal Reserve Chair just won't cooperate quickly—this story plays out repeatedly in American politics.

This round with Trump was very straightforward. Since taking office, he has been determined to get Powell to cut interest rates from around 4.25% down to 1%. But Powell, this seasoned guy, is not an easy target. Under pressure, he remains calm and composed, neither shirking responsibility nor rushing to change policies.

Looking at the interactions between every U.S. president and Fed Chair in history, the question of "whether to cut interest rates" always stirs conflicts. Let's revisit a classic bad debt story—

In the early 1970s, during Nixon's presidency, the U.S. economy was in deep trouble. Unemployment soared to 6.1%, and inflation also broke through 5.8%. Such results would hardly secure re-election. The only shortcut was to force the Fed to quickly cut interest rates, creating a short-term false prosperity to boost the election campaign.

During that period, Nixon and Fed Chair Burns met every three months, with a high frequency of 17 meetings, each openly exerting pressure:

- Saying "If I lose the election, Washington will never have a conservative in power again";
- Publicly dismissing Burns' professional analysis, claiming it was useless;
- Threatening him that he had no power to decide the Fed Board members.

In the end, Burns bowed to the pressure. In 1971, the Fed cut interest rates directly from 5% to 3.5%, and M1 money supply growth soared to 8.4%—a post-WWII peak. Nixon was elected as he wished and became the first sitting U.S. president to visit China.

But at what cost? Burns was branded with shame in history.

After the brief illusion of prosperity shattered, combined with the oil crisis, U.S. inflation spiraled out of control. The dollar depreciated drastically, gold prices surged wildly, and the economy collapsed. Burns never washed away this stigma in his lifetime; he became a symbol of "loss of central bank independence." Later evaluations of him said: "He came back alive, but his reputation was ruined; he kept his position but lost in history."

What does this story mean for today's market participants? Every decision by the central bank is not just an economic issue but also involves political considerations. For assets sensitive to liquidity like BTC and ETH, whether the Fed can maintain independence and how quickly it cuts rates directly influence capital flows.