President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday that it’s “highly unlikely” that he will fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, but he did not entirely rule it out.
Powell’s term as chairman ends in May 2026, but Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with his refusal to lower interest rates, leaving the U.S. among the highest in the industrialized world.
A reporter asked the president in the Oval Office whether he had plans to fire Powell and, if so, how he would justify such a move.
“He should have cut interest rates a long time ago. Europe has cut them 10 times in the short period of time, and we cut ’em none. The only time he cut them was just before the election, to try to help Kamala [Harris],” Trump answered.
The Federal Reserve Board declined to lower interest rates in May, keeping them at the current target of 4.25 to 4.5 percent, Fox Business reported.
The last time the Fed cut the rate was in December by 25 basis points, or 0.25 percent. That cut was on top of another 25 basis point reduction on Nov. 7, after the election, and a 50-point cut in September.
Trump continued, “I think [Powell] does a terrible job. He’s costing us a lot of money.”
.@POTUS on Jerome Powell: “He’s too late — he’s always been too late… He’s a terrible Fed Chair… Fortunately, we get to make a change in the next eight months or so.” pic.twitter.com/H8iRMzGWwH
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 16, 2025
Will Trump fire Jerome Powell?
“We should be paying three points lower, and we would save a trillion dollars a year in interest if that were the case,” the president said.
Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, who serves on the Senate’s banking and budget committees, told Fox News last month that the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep the interest rate at the current level is costing the American taxpayer at least $400 billion per year in interest payments on debt.
Former President Joe Biden’s Treasury Department financed an increasing share of deficit spending by selling short-term bonds, which come due, and then the debt must be refinanced at the high rates still in place.
“If we just lowered our rates to where Japan is, who has higher inflation … we would save hundreds of billions of dollars,” Moreno said.
The data is clear, Donald Trump has inflation under control. But Jerome Powell is costing this county hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars every year by refusing to cut rates—and working families are paying the price.
He should do the right thing and resign. pic.twitter.com/8kuf73JrW6
— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) June 27, 2025
Trump wrote a public rebuke to Powell in June on a chart that compares the U.S. interest rate to other nations. “Jerome, you are, as usual, ‘too late.’ You have cost the USA a fortune — and continue to do so,” the note read.
Donald J. Trump Truth Social 06.30.25 01:09 PM EST
Jerome “Too Late” Powell, and his entire Board, should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to the United States. They have one of the easiest, yet most prestigious, jobs in America, and they have FAILED — And… pic.twitter.com/hXKHbZ7R9l
— Fan Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) June 30, 2025
A reporter asked Trump on Wednesday whether he has completely ruled out firing Powell.
“I don’t rule out anything, but I think it’s highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud. It’s possible there’s fraud involved with the $2.5, $2.7 billion renovation” of the Federal Reserve building, Trump said.
The president also confirmed that he had spoken with GOP lawmakers on Tuesday evening at the White House about the possibility of firing Powell.
“I talked about the concept of firing him. I said, ‘What do you think?’ Almost every one of them said I should, but I’m more conservative than they are,” Trump said.
President Trump on discussing potentially firing Jerome Powell with House Republicans: “I talked about the concept of firing him. I said ‘what do you think.’ Almost every one of them said I should, but I’m more conservative than they are.” pic.twitter.com/eg9x9pP9Pi
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 16, 2025
The New York Times reported, “Presidents are unable to remove officials at the Fed without cause, a protection that was bolstered by the Supreme Court in a ruling in May regarding Mr. Trump’s ability to unseat certain members of government agencies stipulated as independent by Congress.
“Cause has typically meant malfeasance or gross misconduct, rather than a disagreement on the direction of monetary policy. No president has attempted to fire a Fed chair in modern history.”
Earlier this month, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought appeared to begin laying the predicate for firing Powell based on cause, highlighting the headquarters building renovation cost overrun of $700 million and the fact that the Fed has been losing money since 2023 for the first time in its over century-long history.
Chairman Jerome Powell has grossly mismanaged the Fed.
While continuing to run a deficit since FY23 (the first time in the Fed’s history), the Fed is way over budget on the renovation of its headquarters.
Now up to $2.5 billion, roughly $700 million over its initial cost.… pic.twitter.com/lHK4cWlAvf
— Russ Vought (@russvought) July 10, 2025
“These renovations include terrace rooftop gardens, water features, VIP elevators, and premium marble,” he posted on social media. “The cost per square foot is $1,923 — double the cost for renovating an ordinary historic federal building.”
He noted the current price tag for renovations is up to $2.5 billion, adding, “The Palace of Versailles would have cost $3 billion in today’s dollars!”
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