President Donald Trump said he had “no intention of firing” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday.
The message is a stark change from just a day earlier, when Trump called Powell a “major loser” in a Truth Social post and hinted that he would fire him.
Trump has recently kept the pressure on Powell to lower interest rates – an action the Fed chair recently said he would not rush or take lightly. Trump nominated Powell as Fed chair in 2017 but has butted heads with him ever since.
US stock futures surged in after-hours trading Tuesday. Dow futures were up more than 500 points, or 1.3%. S&P 500 futures rose 1.6% and Nasdaq futures were 1.8% higher after markets roared back Tuesday on comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that suggested the United States could ease off its unsustainable trade war with China. In the Oval Office Tuesday, Trump backed up that assertion, saying he wouldn’t seek to punish China any further.
On Thursday, Trump said Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough,” blasting him for being “too late and wrong” on inflation. Markets tumbled that day in response, unsettling investors who relied on the cool-headed Powell to steer the economy independently from politics.
Monday, the next trading day after the Good Friday holiday, Trump upped the pressure on Powell, sending the Dow down more than 1,000 points.
Powell, for his part, has refused to wade into politics. He has steadfastly avoided the topic and declined every opportunity to criticize Trump. Powell has said he believes the Fed must remain independent.
But asked whether he believes Trump can fire him, Powell has said the law does not permit a president to remove a Fed chair. That’s a bit of a debatable point, but most legal scholars generally agree with Powell except under extraordinary circumstances, such as illegal behavor.
“I would like to see him (Powell) be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” Trump said Tuesday at an event swearing in the new SEC Chair. “It is a perfect time to lower interest rates.”
The Fed cut rates three times last year, most recently at December’s policy meeting. Trump has accused Powell of playing into politics by refusing to cut rates since he returned to the White House, something the Fed chair has vehemently denied on several occasions.
Rather, Powell and many of his colleagues have argued the central bank needs to proceed cautiously on cutting rates further, especially given Trump’s uncertain and erratic trade policies.
The issue of how to respond to the Fed’s inaction on cutting rates has appeared to create divisions within the Trump administration. Last week, Bessent said Fed independence was a “jewel box that has got to be preserved.”
