President Donald Trump is escalating his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell—the man he appointed in 2017—as the stock market continues its nosedive.
In a new, unhinged Truth Social post Monday, Trump doubled down on his pressure campaign—calling Powell a “major loser” and warning the economy could collapse unless the Fed chair slashes interest rates immediately.
“‘Preemptive Cuts’ in Interest Rates are being called for by many,” Trump ranted. “With Energy Costs way down, food prices (including Biden’s egg disaster!) substantially lower… there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.”
Trump also baselessly accused Powell of manipulating rates to help former President Joe Biden win in 2020, saying, “Powell has always been ‘To[o] Late,’ except when it came to the Election period when he lowered in order to help Sleepy Joe Biden, later Kamala, get elected. How did that work out?”
The outburst comes amid reports that Trump is reportedly hunting for ways to oust Powell before his term ends in May 2026. Powell has made clear that Trump can’t legally remove him—and doing so would only pour gasoline on the already volatile markets. Still, Trump told reporters last week, “If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me.”
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Powell’s resistance isn’t about ego—it’s about the independence of the Federal Reserve, which is supposed to keep monetary policy insulated from political pressure. But even Trump’s public threats are enough to destabilize markets, and Wall Street clearly isn’t buying what Trump’s selling.
“If you start to raise questions about Federal Reserve independence, you are raising the bar for the Federal Reserve to cut. If you actually did try to remove the Federal Reserve chairman, I think you would see a severe reaction in markets,” Evercore ISI Vice President Krishna Guha told CNBC.
That’s already happening: The S&P 500 ended down by 2.36% Monday, and the Nasdaq composite index was down by 2.55%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 1,200 points—nearly 3.3%—before ending the day down 971.82 points, and the dollar hit its lowest point since 2022.
And that’s not just bad optics. A weaker dollar makes American goods cheaper overseas, but also drives up import costs and makes inflation harder to control.
The irony here is hard to miss: Trump is throwing tantrums to pressure Powell into cutting rates, but each one only rattles markets more and deepens the economic chaos Trump created in the first place.
“There’s a slew of things that could be very unsettling to the market as it tries to navigate what it doesn’t really know how to navigate, which is policy uncertainty about tariffs,” John Mowrey, the chief investment officer at NFJ Investment Group, told The New York Times.
Trump’s been gunning for Powell ever since the Fed chair correctly warned that the president’s erratic tariff threats would fuel inflation and choke off growth. Powell has made it clear he’s not eager to cut rates until there’s more clarity on Trump’s trade agenda—something he still refuses to provide.
“Tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation. The inflationary effects could also be more persistent. The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated,” Powell said in remarks at the Economic Club of Chicago last week. “The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”
Markets had started to bounce back somewhat after Trump walked back some of his threats and announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs (except on China). But Monday’s outburst brought it all crashing down again.
Trump is bullying Powell to clean up a mess that Trump has created. And every time he opens his mouth, he only deepens the damage.
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