President
“Never did,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “The press runs away with things. No, I have no intention of firing him. I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates.”
Trump’s National Economic Council Director
The president unleashed a tirade against Powell last week right before the European Central Bank lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 2.25%, about half the Fed’s rate of 4.25-4.5%, saying in a post on Truth Social that “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
WATCH: President Donald Trump says he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Mike McKee reports on “Balance of Power.” Source: Bloomberg
The US president has repeatedly complained that the Fed was not cutting interest rates quickly enough.
Trump reiterated that criticism on Tuesday, even as he insisted the controversy over his remarks — which rattled markets — was overblown.
“We think that it’s a perfect time to lower the rate, and would like to see our chairman be early or on time, as opposed to late,” Trump said.
Treasuries and the dollar showed greater stability on Tuesday as the White House said the administration was making progress on negotiations of trade deals aimed at reducing the sweeping tariffs he announced earlier this month. While the 10-year Treasury yield barely budged, two-year yields rose to 3.82% after lackluster demand for an auction.
Powell and his colleagues have kept interest rates unchanged this year, after lowering them by a full percentage point in the last few months of 2024, as they wait to see how the economy reacts to the administration’s policies on tariffs, tax reform, deregulation and immigration.
Most Fed officials have said policy is in a good place right now and needs to still be putting some pressure on the economy in order to continue cooling inflation, which has been above their 2% target for four years.
The US
(Updates with additional context)
To contact the reporters on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Justin Sink, Vince Golle
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:
Learn About Bloomberg Law
AI-powered legal analytics, workflow tools and premium legal & business news.
Already a subscriber?
Log in to keep reading or access research tools.