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President Donald Trump said he had “no intention” of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, tamping down speculation that he might try to oust the central bank head after a series of social media posts and comments from a senior White House official rattled financial markets.
“I don’t want to talk about that because I have no intention of firing. None whatsoever,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday, when asked by a reporter whether he planned to seek Powell’s removal. “Never did,” Trump added. “The press runs away with things. No, I have no intention of firing him.”
Trump repeated his call for the Fed to lower interest rates, calling it “a perfect time” to act.
“I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” Trump said. “It’s a perfect time to lower interest rates. If he doesn’t, is it the end? No, it’s not, but it would be good timing. It would be. … It could have taken place earlier. But no, I have no intention to fire him.”
U.S. stock futures and the dollar rose after Trump’s comments late Tuesday.
The remarks marked a notable shift in tone from just a day earlier, when Trump referred to Powell as a “major loser” on his social media platform, Truth Social. The president warned the U.S. economy could slow without an immediate reduction in interest rates amid the broader fallout from his trade war. The comments spurred a sell-off in all three major indexes, although the markets regained much of those losses Tuesday.
Monday’s comments came after Trump wrote last week that the Fed chair’s “termination cannot come fast enough.”
The Fed has declined to comment on the president’s criticism.
Some analysts view the attacks as an attempt to deflect blame for signs of economic weakness from the president’s own trade war. Trump’s trade policies have already roiled markets, contributing to declines in stock prices, a weaker dollar and a spike in Treasury yields.
In his Oval Office remarks on Tuesday, Trump also softened his tone on tariffs, saying the United States is “doing fine” in trade deal talks with China and that the sharply raised tariff rates of 145 percent on Chinese goods will eventually come down.
“We’re doing fine with China. We’re doing fine with every, I think, almost every country. Everybody wants to have involvement with the United States,” Trump said.
Though Trump has long criticized Powell, the Fed chairman has said the president doesn’t have the legal authority to dismiss him and has said he plans to complete his term as Fed chairman, which ends in May 2026.
The law that created the Fed says a president is allowed to fire Fed governors only for cause – generally malfeasance of some kind rather than a policy dispute. It is silent on whether the president can demote a top official from a leadership role. The issue hasn’t been previously litigated, and any effort to dislodge Powell – to either fire him outright from the Fed or to demote him – would almost certainly lead to a legal dispute that would have to be settled by the Supreme Court.
While some top Trump advisers have previously said the administration will respect the Fed’s independence around monetary policy, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, on Friday amplified the president’s displeasure with the Fed leader, saying that Trump is studying whether he’s able to fire the Fed chief.
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Maybe Trump should blame the guy who appointed Powell and stop gaslighting everyone.
He’s either a serial liar and nothing he says should be listened to or … so mentally unstable he can’t remember what he said last week.
It’s not an either/or… I think both of your possibilities are correct.
He’s hoping you’ll forget what he said last week…even though it’s preserved in hundreds of on-line reports and resources. He is a serial liar…he holds fast to Hitler’s philosophy that if you tell the big lie often enough, eventually people believe it. His entire political career is built on spreading the big lie. And alas, about half of the US population apparently believes his lies.
He has been now been shown quite conclusively to be someone without a moral compass, and without a real plan other than to increase his own wealth. He exists only to ‘make the deal” without regard to how bad the deal is for the US. He has bowed down to Putin, and he is bowing down to China. The deals as to Putin are bad for the US, bad for our allies, and bad for our country. The proposed tariffs are not only bad for our country in the short term, but in the long term they will cause our allies and foreign markets to seek out more stable partners thereby reducing the influence of the US outside our borders, probably for decades to come.
And worse, his apparent willingness to quickly back off his terms because the market turns, after telling us he isn’t concerned with the market, makes it clear to foreign leaders that standing up to Trump for just a bit will cause him to back down. Go ahead, enter into negotiations with this as your track record. Trump and his co-conspirators will be gone in a few years. They will wait us out…
49.8% of the voters wanted this outcome, and 100% of us are stuck with it…
The good news for Democrats is; it is setting up for a midterm blue wave and possibly the next general.
Here is a hot take prediction—Trump will make some sort of a play for a 3rd term, and enough maggot voters will split off, ensuring a Democrat win. Also, election integrity! Will come roaring back in 2028
+1 Timothy S.
Maggot voters. You elected an especially immature 10 year old to be president. Give yourselves a hand
**insert bad golf clapping**