President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday morning, calling for his “termination” for not dropping interest rates rapidly enough.
His remarks came one day after the central bank governor issued a harsh warning about the impact of Trump’s sweeping tariffs on the economy.
In a social media tweet early Thursday morning, Trump slammed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, claiming that the US central bank is falling behind its European equivalent. Later Thursday morning, the European Central Bank announced that interest rates would be slashed for the seventh time in a year.
“Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’ Trump wrote. “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”
Powell on Wednesday said the Trump administration has brought “very fundamental policy changes,” including his sweeping tariffs that are “significantly larger than anticipated.”
Powell was appointed Fed Chair by Trump in 2018 and reappointed by President Joe Biden in 2021. His current term concludes in May 2026.
Trump has often threatened to dismiss Powell from his position, and criticism of his Fed chief dates back to 2018, when Powell took over the world’s most powerful central bank.
The Fed hiked interest rates a few times that year, concerned that a historically tight employment market would drive up inflation. In 2019, Trump even described Powell as “the enemy.”
Trump told reporters in March 2020 that he had the “right to remove (Powell) as chairman” and that “he has, so far, made a lot of bad decisions, in my opinion,” after markets tanked due to the epidemic. He did, however, praise Powell for reducing interest rates to zero in order to avoid an economic disaster.
According to a July Bloomberg interview, Trump has stated that he will not reappoint Powell for a third term and will allow him to finish his term, “especially if I thought he was doing the right thing.”
Powell has stated unequivocally that dismissing a Fed chair is “not permitted under the law,” and that he wants to serve out the duration of his term.
Trump administration officials clarified that the exemptions granted for electronic products on Friday are only temporary, with new tariff rates expected to be announced soon.
Officials also stated that separate tariffs will be imposed on items such as laptops and smartphones, citing national security concerns. President Trump is also expected to introduce a special tariff on semiconductors, underscoring his push to shift the electronics supply chain back to the United States.
“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair trade balances,” Trump posted Sunday evening. “There was no tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday.” He noted further that his administration would be “taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN” in an upcoming probe into national security and tariffs.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was asked on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday if “big tariffs on things like smartphones and laptops and iPhones built in China” would come back “in another form” in a month or so.
“Correct. Semiconductors and pharmaceuticals will have a tariff model in order to encourage them to re-shore, to be built in America,” Lutnick responded. “We need our medicines and we need semiconductors and our electronics to be built in America. We can’t be beholden and rely upon foreign countries for fundamental things that we need.”
The exemptions apply to U.S. tariffs imposed by President Trump under a 1977 law invoked to address what he declared a “national emergency” caused by the large trade deficit. The upcoming round of tariffs will be issued under the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which grants the president authority to “adjust imports” that are deemed a threat to national security.
