President Donald Trump revealed Friday that there is one reason he has yet to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell despite calls for him to be removed from his position amid criticism of the president over his tariffs.
During an interview on Newsmax, President Trump said he was warned against firing Jerome Powell, as his advisors believed it could shake up the markets. Otherwise, Trump said, he would have had no hesitation in removing him immediately.
“They say it would disturb the market,” Trump said. “I would remove him in a heartbeat, but they say it would disturb the market. He gets out in seven or eight months, and I’ll put somebody else in.”
President Trump was asked if it’s possible to remove Powell due to having “cause,” as the new headquarters are costing an estimated total of over $2 billion. In response, Trump criticized the high cost of a $2.9 billion renovation project for a federal building. He says the building isn’t that complex inside and claims he has a lot of experience with similar projects, citing his renovation of the Old Post Office into a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. He also boasts that he may know more about building and renovating than anyone.
“I will tell you, he’s got 2.9 billion dollars that they’re spending in this thing. Really more than that, if you include the whole project,” Trump continued. “It’s way over budget by hundreds of millions of dollars. He shouldn’t be doing that. It’s like it’s almost like he’s building a palace for himself, but he’s not going to be there much longer. Anyway, that’s the good news. He’ll never get to use it. No, the Fed rate is too high. Interest rates are too high. And despite that, we have a great economy.”
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Trump has called on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, pointing to his administration’s achievements with tariffs as justification. However, during their fourth meeting of 2025 in June, Fed officials decided to maintain the current target range at 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent. I’m July, Powell stated during a panel discussion that the Federal Reserve likely would have lowered interest rates already if not for Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. His comments sparked demands for an investigation, and Trump amplified the pressure by sharing an article in which the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency called on Congress to investigate Powell’s spending on the Fed’s new headquarters.
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