Trump: Powell's Termination Can't 'Come Fast Enough'

Fed chief Jerome Powell rattled the markets on Wednesday with a warning about President Trump's tariffs. On Thursday, Trump for the first time directly called for Powell's firing, reports CNBC.

• "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. As he has done previously, he criticized Powell for being too slow to cut interest rates, noting that the European Central Bank was expected to implement another cut on Thursday.
• "The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, 'Too Late' Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete 'mess!'" wrote Trump. Powell warned that Trump's higher-than-expected tariffs raised the risk of recession, but the president countered Thursday that "the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS."

• Powell has previously said he would not resign if Trump asked him to do so, and he maintains that the president does not have the legal authority to fire him from the central bank, reports Axios. "We're never going to be influenced by any political pressure," he said in his speech on Wednesday. "People can say whatever they want. That's fine. That's not a problem. But we will do what we do strictly without consideration of political or any other extraneous factors."
• Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reaffirmed his support for the Fed's independence in setting rates, calling it a "jewel box that has got to be preserved," per the Wall Street Journal. Trump actually nominated Powell to be Fed chair in 2017, and then-President Biden appointed him to another four-year term.

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