Trump threatens to fire Powell, defends Fed criminal probe

President Trump threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from the central bank board if he does not step down at the end of his term leading the bank.

In a Wednesday interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, the president said he would oust Powell if he does not leave by the May 15 end of his four-year tenure as the board’s chairman.

“Then I’ll have to fire him,” Trump told Bartiromo when asked about Powell’s plan to stay on the Fed board.

Trump also defended the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal probe of the Fed and Powell’s handling of renovations, which the Fed chair said will force him to stay on at the bank until the investigation is resolved.

“Whether it’s incompetence, corruption or both, I think you have to find out,” he said.

Powell’s separate term as a member of the Fed board does not lapse until 2028. Powell said in March he would stay on the Fed board at........

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