US President Donald Trump will speak at the White House in Washington, DC, USA on April 22, 2025.
Kevin Lamarck | Reuters
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before he was in office next year to lead the US Central Bank.
“Nothing,” Trump said in his oval office when asked to make it clear he wasn’t asking for Powell to be removed. “I never did.”
The comment represents a dramatic change for Trump, who recently refusing to step up his rhetoric towards Powell and ruled out the possibility of taking the unprecedented step of firing him.
US stock futures rose sharply on major indexes following Trump’s latest remarks.
“If he wants to go out of there, he’ll go out really fast,” said Trump, who pressured Powell last week to cut interest rates.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will set out after speaking with Dr. Ragram Rajan, a professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School, at a Chicago Economic Club event held in Chicago, Illinois on April 16, 2025.
Vincent Alban | Getty Images
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Friday he was actively researching the possibility that Trump and his aides would fire Powell.
Powell, who was appointed by Trump during his first term as president, is scheduled to serve as the Fed chair until May 2026. He fully states that the President cannot remove him under the law.
Trump fired his most inflammatory criticism of Powell on Monday, calling him a “major loser” and promptly urged him to lower the fees.
But when asked about Powell’s prospects for firing Tuesday afternoon, Trump said, “The press is running away with things.”
“No, I’m not going to fire him,” Trump told reporters after a ceremony where he was sworn in as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at Paul Atkins.
“I hope he will be a little more proactive in terms of his idea of lowering interest rates,” the president added. “This is the best time to cut interest rates.”
Trump’s remarks came after he rebounded from a sudden sale on Monday, which was linked to a major US stock index that was heavily shut down and at least in part to the fear that was plagued by Trump’s attack on Powell.
Some critics and analysts have warned that the president has removed the chairman of the Federal Reserve, which has traditionally been operating independent of the government, will cause panic in the market.
– CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.
