Trump threatens to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell

Donald Trump said he would fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell if Powell does not step down when his term ends next month, according to the Guardian’s live coverage of US politics. Trump told Fox News he would remove Powell if his preferred successor, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, is not confirmed by 15 May, the date the White House is treating as the end of Powell’s tenure.

The threat lands in a narrow procedural gap that matters to markets: a chair can remain in place while the Senate considers a replacement. Trump is signaling that he does not intend to tolerate that interim period. Warsh is due to face senators in a confirmation hearing next week, but his path is already entangled with a separate line of attack on Powell—an investigation into alleged mismanagement of the Federal Reserve’s building renovations.

According to the Guardian, Senator Thom Tillis, a key Republican vote on the Senate banking committee, has said he will withhold support for any nominee to lead the central bank while the administration continues investigating Powell. Tillis has framed the probe as political retaliation for Powell’s refusal to cut interest rates on presidential demand. That stance creates a circular problem: the more the White House leans on the investigation to discredit Powell, the harder it becomes to confirm the replacement; the harder it becomes to confirm the replacement, the more Trump threatens to fire Powell.

Trump described the renovation inquiry as “more than a criminal probe” and also about “incompetence,” the Guardian reports. The message is aimed at two audiences at once. To lawmakers, it offers a justification for removal that is not explicitly about monetary policy. To investors, it suggests the White House is willing to treat the Fed chairmanship like any other political appointment, subject to compliance and timing.

The practical consequences would be felt quickly if a president attempted to remove a sitting chair without Senate-confirmed succession. The Federal Reserve’s credibility rests on predictable decision-making and insulation from electoral cycles; a public ultimatum over rate cuts and personnel turns that insulation into a testable claim. Even without an immediate firing, the episode increases the risk premium around US monetary governance: investors must now price not only inflation and growth, but also the possibility of institutional conflict at the top of the central bank.

Warsh’s hearing is scheduled for next week, and the Senate banking committee’s margins are tight. Powell’s term ends next month, while the White House’s deadline for confirmation is 15 May.