WASHINGTON — Jerome H. Powell has spent much of his life toiling quietly behind the scenes, first as an investment banker and later as a governor at the Federal Reserve. Even as the central bank’s chair, and arguably the global economy’s most important figure, he has maintained a low-key image.

He’s an avid cyclist who eats well (Greek yogurt with granola and blueberries for breakfast), wakes up early (5:15 a.m.), and unwinds with spy novels (John le Carré is one favorite). He was a prop in his dog, Pippa’s, Mick Jagger Halloween costume. He has been known to fret over the national debt. Everything about him, from the simple language he uses at news conferences to his demeanor on Capitol Hill, conveys that he is relatable, ordinary and decidedly undramatic.



Yet he plays a leading role in the soap opera that is President Trump’s Washington. A scroll through Mr. Trump’s Twitter feed paints Mr. Powell as an out-of-touch policymaker bent on single-handedly tanking America’s economy by keeping interest rates too high.

The president blatantly cast him as a villain last August — just moments after the Fed chair delivered a keynote speech at the central bank’s annual meeting in Jackson, Wyo. — comparing Mr. Powell to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“We have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed,” Mr. Trump wrote in a tweet. “My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?”