President Donald Trump took shots at the chair of the Federal Reserve after his comments appeared to lead to a drop in the stock market.
Trump lambasted Jerome Powell for announcing Wednesday that the Fed would not be cutting interest rates because of signs of instability in the economy. The president then suggested that Powell should be fired from the position.
‘Fed independence is very widely understood and supported in Washington, in Congress, where it really matters.’
Trump pointed out that the European Central Bank was cutting rates and tagged Powell with a new nickname.
“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!’ Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS. Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” he added.
Powell was first nominated to the position in 2017 by Trump in his first term and was renominated by former President Joe Biden in 2021. His second term as Fed chair will end in May 2026.
The stock market took yet another dip in value on Wednesday after Powell’s comments, where he also defended the independent nature of the Federal Reserve.
“Generally speaking, Fed independence is very widely understood and supported in Washington, in Congress, where it really matters,” said Powell from the Economic Club of Chicago.
“The point is, we can make our decisions and we will only make our decisions based on our best thinking, based on our best analysis of the data about what is the way to serve our — to achieve our dual mandate goals as we can to best serve the American people. That’s the only thing we’re ever going to do,” he added.
“We’re never going to be influenced by any political pressure,” said Powell. “People can say whatever they want. That’s fine with — that’s not a problem, but we will do what we do strictly without consideration of political or any other extraneous factors.”
Powell said that the higher-than-expected tariffs from the Trump administration would likely lead to higher inflation and job losses, which is why he recommended leaving rates as they were in order to watch the impact of the policies.
Trump has previously criticized Powell and threatened to fire him, but Powell, when asked by reporters in November, said that it was not within the power of the presidency to fire him from the position.
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