Politicians often like lower interest rates because they can give the economy a lift, shoring up voter support. But economists say politicized central banks lead to high levels of inflation and erodes trust among investors and creditors. Trump has nevertheless stepped up pressure on the Federal Reserve and its chairman Jerome Powell in recent weeks as his trade policies threaten to hurt the American economy. View Markets Insider's homepage for more stories. In the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon handily won another term in the White House after pressuring his Federal Reserve chairman to keep interest rates low.