U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to fire and sue Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Trump launched his latest attack against Powell in a press conference with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
He repeated false claims about the cost of a renovation of the central bank headquarters, told reporters that he might file a lawsuit against the Fed chair for “gross incompetence”, and called him a “fool”.
“I mean, Biden reappointed him. It’s too bad. You would have thought he wouldn’t have done that,” Trump said, without any acknowledgment that he had first appointed Powell himself in 2018.
“I’d love to fire him. Maybe I still might,” Trump said.
Trump claimed the building renovations cost US$4.1 billion when Powell had pointed out the costs were US$2.5 billion.
This comes as Powell’s term as the Fed Chair ends in May.
While his chairmanship will come to an end at this time, Powell will still have two years left on his term as governor and has refused to say whether he will stay on the Fed.
Trump also hinted that he will reveal his pick for Powell’s successor this month.
He has made it clear he intends to pick a candidate who aims to keep interest rates low and never “disagree” with him.
Since returning to the office, Trump has developed a difficult relationship with Fed Chair Jerome Powell due to his unwillingness to lower interest rates.
