President Donald Trump said he has “no intention” of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, just days after calling for his termination.
“None whatsoever,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday when asked if he planned to fire Powell. “Never did. The press runs away with things. No, I have no intention of firing him.”
Despite Trump blaming the press, it was the president himself who said in a social media post on Thursday that he wanted Powell fired.
“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Powell, a mainstream conservative economist, was appointed by Trump in 2017.
Trump’s gripe with Powell comes from the Fed chair’s refusal to quickly lower interest rates amid Trump’s tariff chaos. The refusal sent Trump into a typical spiral of lashing out after not getting his way.
In a rambling Truth Social post on Monday, Trump called Powell “a major loser.”
“With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” Trump wrote in part.
Economists have warned that if Trump were to fire Powell, it could send the U.S. economy into a free fall. The president’s tune changed on Tuesday.
“I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” Trump told reporters. “This is 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 should have taken place earlier. But no, I have no intention to fire him.”