President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would love to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but suggested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is holding him back.
“[I’ll] be honest, I’d love to fire his ass,” Trump said of Powell at the U.S. Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C.
Trump urged Bessent to “work on” Powell to quickly lower interest rates — and quipped that the Cabinet secretary’s job depended on it.
“The only thing Scott’s blowing it on is the Fed,” Trump said. “The rates are too high, Scott, and if you don’t get it fixed fast, I’m gonna fire your ass.”
It was unclear how seriously Trump was threatening to fire Bessent.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told CNBC in a statement, “The White House maintains complete confidence in Secretary Bessent’s job running the Treasury Department and President Trump’s search for a new – and competent – chairman of the Federal Reserve.”
Trump went on to recite a conversation in which Bessent pleads with the president to let Powell finish out his term as chair, which is set to end in May 2026.
“I can’t tell you — Scott: ‘Sir, don’t fire him. Sir, please don’t fire him. He’s got three months to go, don’t fire him,'” Trump said. “I wanna get him out!”
Trump added that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is “a little bit more for firing.”
“I think Howard would say, ‘Get him the hell out.'”
The remarks came shortly before the release of minutes from the Fed’s October meeting, which show central bank officials were conflicted over whether to cut rates further. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee ultimately approved a quarter percentage point reduction in the overnight borrowing rate to a range of 3.75%-4% at that meeting. The group will gather again in December.
Trump has long criticized Powell for declining to slash rates as quickly and deeply as the president wants.
At the White House on Tuesday, Trump said, “people are holding me back,” from firing Powell.
He also said that his administration is talking to multiple candidates to succeed Powell. Bessent is assisting in the search process.
