President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, but that he hopes to lower interest rates if the central bank chief rattles investors and the statement that could ease tensions over the future.
“I’m not going to fire him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “I hope he’s a little more aggressive in terms of his idea of lowering interest rates,” he added.
Trump’s statement was the first escalation since Trump took office in January, days after he robbed at Powell because he didn’t cut further at Powell. Trump on Monday called Powell the “major loser” when the stocks tanked.
Broadside often had social media last week with threatening remarks, including social media posts that Powell’s firing as Fed chair “can’t be quick enough.”
But while he appears to have put those threats aside for now, his criticism of Fed rate policy remains as pointed out.
“We think it’s the best time to lower the rate, and our chairman wants to be early or on time, not recently,” Trump said.
