Earlier this month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled a shift in the Fed’s stance towards policy easing at the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The U.S. stock market and bond market rallied in response to this development.

Soon after, however, President Trump upped his attacks on the Federal Reserve by announcing he would fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook for allegedly committing fraud in mortgage applications. This represented the first firing of a governor in the Fed’s history.

A Wall Street Journal editorial called the action a “calculated putsch,” noting that the crackdown on mortgage fraud seems to be aimed only at Trump’s opponents. The editorial also claimed the criminal referral was a direct threat to other Fed governors: “Cut rates or else.”

The editorial board of the Financial Times wrote that the assumption that the Fed will set rates based on its own economic judgments has been dealt a “severe blow” by Trump’s determination to undermine it.

While other U.S. presidents have exerted pressure on the Fed chair to ease monetary policy, they did not attempt to gain control of the Fed. However, CNBC reports that President Trump said in a cabinet meeting last week that “

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