President Trump lashed out on Thursday at Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, saying, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” Mr. Trump’s ire followed remarks by Mr. Powell on Wednesday, when he warned in a speech that the president’s tariffs could create a “challenging scenario” for the central bank by putting its two main goals — stable inflation and a healthy labor market — in tension. Mr. Powell reiterated that the Fed could afford to be patient with its interest rate decisions until it had more clarity about Mr. Trump’s policies. The Fed chair’s emphasis on the need to ensure that a temporary rise in inflation from tariffs did not become a more persistent problem suggested that the bar for further rate cuts was high.

President Donald Trump slammed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, reiterating his frustration that the Fed has not aggressively cut interest rates and saying that the central bank leader’s “termination cannot come fast enough.” Trump hinted at moving to fire Powell, whose term does not expire until next year. The Republican president’s broadside comes a day after Powell signaled that the Fed will keep its key interest rate unchanged while it seeks “greater clarity” on the impact of policy changes in areas such as immigration, taxation, regulation and tariffs. Powell’s comments contributed to a drop in stock prices Wednesday.

Trump's remarks on Powell being "too late" come after he said Wednesday the Federal Reserve can stay patient and wait to see how tariffs and other economic policies of the Trump administration play out before making any changes to interest rates. "As that great Chicagoan Ferris Bueller once noted, 'Life moves pretty fast,'" Powell said in a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago. "For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity" on the impact of policy changes in areas such as immigration, taxation, regulation, and tariffs, Powell said. The sharp volatility in financial markets since Trump announced sweeping tariffs April 2, only to put most of them on hold a week later, has led to speculation about whether the Fed would soon cut its key interest rate or take other steps to calm investors.