U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Win McNamee | Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Thursday again called for the Federal Reserve to lower rates and even hinted at the “termination” of Chair Jerome Powell.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said:
“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. Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
Indeed, the European Central Bank has been cutting rates as it tries to boost growth in the region. The ECB lowered rates again later Thursday.
A senior White House official told CNBC that the post should not be seen as a threat to fire Powell, but rather as a reinstatement of Trump’s frustrations with the Fed chief. However, Trump doubled down on his post later in the day, telling reporters: “I don’t think he’s doing the job. He’s too late, always too late … Slow, and 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.” Trump also ignored multiple follow-up questions on whether he was trying to remove Powell.
The post comes a day after Powell delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago in which he noted that the administration’s tariffs put the central bank in a tricky spot as it decides whether to tame inflation or boost growth.
“If that were to occur, we would consider how far the economy is from each goal, and the potentially different time horizons over which those respective gaps would be anticipated to close,” Powell said. Those comments contributed to a steep sell-off on Wednesday.
This is not the first time Trump has criticized Powell’s approach to U.S. monetary policy. Trump posted on April 4, two days after the administration’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, that it would be “a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly.”
However, it is the first time Trump has explicitly called for Powell’s firing. Powell has said the president does not have the power to fire him, noting that it is “not permitted under the law.”
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May 2026.
