President Donald Trump joins FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo to discuss the AI race with China, Iran tensions, the NATO conflict, and his push to fix the Fed while touting a strong US economy and global power.
President Donald Trump laid the burden on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday, threatening to fire him over allegations that he is “incompetent” if he fails to leave his post.
“I’m holding back on kicking him out. I wanted to kick him out, but I hate being in an argument, you know?” the president told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo in an exclusive interview.
Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, to replace Powell as chairman when his term ends in May.
The move comes at a tumultuous time for the agency, amid the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Powell.
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President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. (Getty Images / Image Image / Getty Images)
The investigation sparked outrage among some, including Sen. Outgoing Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who pledged to “oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including the chairman position, until the DOJ investigation into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved.”
Trump touched on the topic when asked if he plans to advise U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro to end the investigation.
“[This is a] to build what I was going to do for $25 million will cost maybe four billion dollars,” said Trump.
“Don’t you think we should find out what happened there?”
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The Mariner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
He also touched on Tillis when asked if he believed Warsh would be confirmed.
“We have to find out [if he will be confirmed]. He won’t, but that’s why Thom Tillis is no longer a senator,” he said, referring to Tillis’ decision not to seek re-election in 2026.
He went on to call Tillis a “good man” who he didn’t believe would intentionally “hurt” Warsh’s chances.
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Sen. Tim Scott, RS.C., joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to discuss the delay in Kevin Warsh’s Federal Reserve confirmation hearing, the future of Jerome Powell, and the fight to pass the CLARITY Act.
“He’s on his way out… and I think he doesn’t want a legacy to stop a great man who could be great…. I know what he said, and it’s probably true, I’ll have to live with it…”
Trump also criticized Powell on a range of other issues, including his handling of interest rates, underscoring his insistence that rates should be lowered now.
Fox Business’ Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
