Trump insists he could fire independent Fed Chair Powell

WASHINGTON

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell departs after speaking with Dr. Raghuram Rajan, a Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School, during an Economic Club of Chicago event on April 16, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois

U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that he could force out the head of the independent Federal Reserve, lashing out after Jerome Powell warned of tariffs-fueled inflation.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on April 17, Trump said Powell would "leave if I ask him to."

He added: "I'm not happy with him. I let him know it and if I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me."

Earlier, in a scathing post on Truth Social, Trump repeated a demand for Powell to lower interest rates, saying his "termination... cannot come fast enough."

Sources also told the Wall Street Journal that Trump has privately discussed firing Powell for months but has not made a final decision, and raised it during private meetings at Mar-a-Lago with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.

The U.S. president does not have direct authority to fire Federal Reserve governors, but Trump could initiate a lengthy process to attempt to unseat Powell by proving there was "cause" to do so.

The U.S. central bank has adopted a wait-and-see attitude to cutting rates, holding them steady at 4.25 to 4.5 percent since the start of this year.

Trump's earlier post suggested Powell's decisions were "Too Late" and that he should have followed the European Central Bank's lead, which on Thursday lowered its benchmark deposit rate by a quarter point.

While presidents have a long history of clashing with Fed chiefs, any move to force Powell to leave office would be unprecedented in modern US political history.

Speaking on April 4, Powell insisted he had no plans to step down as Fed chairman before his term ends next year.