Trump says he’s ‘highly unlikely’ to fire Fed’s Powell after floating that idea in private
By SEUNG MIN KIM WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump disclosed Wednesday that he was highly unlikely to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell a constituents announcement made less than hours after suggesting in a private meeting that he was leaning in favor of dismissing the head of the nation s central bank Related Articles Stay or go For specific transgender sailors and Marines Trump s ban leaves one option Come and find me A look inside a lab making the advanced fuel to power growing US nuclear capacity ambitions Jill Biden aide invokes Fifth to decline testimony in Republican inquiry Before it was Alligator Alcatraz this airstrip sparked fury and changed America s landscape Congress targeted Planned Parenthood for defunding but also caught a Maine fitness care provider Trump approved that in a White House meeting Tuesday night with about a dozen House Republicans he had discussed the concept of dismissing Powell long a target because of his refusal to lower interest rates as Trump wants Almost every one of them commented I should Trump announced about the lawmakers who had come to talk to him about crypto bill He indicated he was leaning in that direction according to a White House official During that session Trump waved a letter about firing Powell but a person familiar with the matter reported it was essentially a prop drafted by someone else and that the Republican president has not drafted such a letter Neither source was authorized to publicly discuss the private meeting and they spoke only on condition on anonymity Trump made his comment about being highly unlikely to dismiss Powell unless he has to leave for fraud during an Oval Office meeting with Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa the crown prince of Bahrain In latest days White House and administration officers have accused Powell of mismanaging a billion renovation project at the Fed adding to months of efforts by Trump try to rid himself of the politically independent central banker U S stocks were shaky as Trump spoke about Powell on Wednesday The S P s modest gain in the morning became a drop of after initial reports that the president may fire the Fed chair Stocks then trimmed their losses after Trump s later comment Treasury yields also swiveled in the bond area but remained mostly calm Those at the White House meeting were among the more far-right lawmakers including members of the House Freedom Cause whose views are not constantly shared by other Republicans In the Senate Republicans have taken a more guarded approach Specific have backed Powell s performance at the Fed as they await an inspector general s review of the construction project In a speech Wednesday Sen Thom Tillis R-N C reported if Powell is dismissed you are going to see a pretty immediate response If anybody thinks it would be a good idea for the Fed to become another agency in the authorities subject to the president they re making a huge mistake announced Tillis who has disclosed that he is not running for reelection Sen John Kennedy R-La revealed this week that Powell has done a decent job I don t think he s been perfect he disclosed adding that there have been times they disagreed but I do believe that the chairman is calling them like he sees them Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee had been scheduled to meet with Powell on Wednesday evening in a gathering set months ago but it was abruptly canceled due to votes in the House according to a committee aide granted anonymity to discuss a private meeting AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro and Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this summary
