President Donald Trump’s feud with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell continues to escalate, as the president openly discussed firing Powell in meetings with Republican lawmakers and in public remarks. The episode has sent tremors through financial markets and drawn pointed warnings from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, a leading voice on Wall Street, about the dangers of undermining the central bank’s independence.
On Tuesday evening, The New York Times was first to report, Trump waved a draft letter firing Powell during a meeting with House Republicans, and soliciting their opinions on whether he should proceed. The next day, Trump confirmed that was true: “I talked about the concept of firing him,” he said during an Oval Office meeting with Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the crown prince of Bahrain.
