CNN
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President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had no “intention” to say goodbye to the president of the Federal Reserve (FED), Jerome Powell.
The message is a drastic change with respect to the previous day, when Trump called Powell a “great loser” in a social truth post and hinted that he would fire him.
Trump has recently maintained the pressure on Powell to lower interest rates, an action that the president of the Federal Reserve said recently that he would not hurry or take lightly. Trump appointed Powell as president of the Fed in 2017, but has hit him since then.
On Thursday, Trump said that “Powell’s dismissal cannot get enough”, criticizing him for being “too late and wrong” about inflation. The markets fell that day in response, disturbing investors who trusted the serene Powell to direct the economy regardless of politics.
On Monday, the next negotiation day after the Good Friday holiday, Trump increased the pressure on Powell, causing the Dow to fall more than 1,000 points.
Powell, meanwhile, has refused to get involved in politics. He has firmly avoided the issue and has rejected all opportunities to criticize Trump. Powell has said that he believes that Fed must remain independent.
But when asked if he believes that Trump can fire him, Powell has said that the law does not allow a president to dismiss a president of the Fed. That is a somewhat debatable point, but most legal academics generally agree with Powell, except in extraordinary circumstances, as an illegal behavior.
“I would like to see that he (Powell) is a bit more active in terms of his idea of lowering interest rates,” Trump said Tuesday at a swearing in the new president of the SEC. “It is a perfect time to lower interest rates.”
