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Over the last several months, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell<\/strong> has become intimately familiar with Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s penchant for hiring people and then shitting on them in public. (See: former \u201cfirst buddy<\/a>\u201d Elon Musk,<\/strong> whom Trump called an \u201camazing guy<\/a>\u201d last November and described as \u201cthe man who has lost his mind<\/a>\u201d in June.) Appointed by Trump during his first term in office, Powell has since been treated to near-biweekly abuse by the leader of the free world, which is probably not what he was expecting when he took the gig. Yet unlike the many other people the former real estate developer has hired and then turned on, Powell has not yet been fired. Emphasis on yet,<\/em> because it sure sounds like Trump is this close to canning the Fed chief, possibly via social media.<\/p>\n So why hasn\u2019t it happened? What exactly is Trump mad at Powell about? Has Trump actually called the head of the central bank a \u201cstubborn MORON\u201d and a \u201cknucklehead\u201d? And who is Lisa Cook,<\/strong> the Fed board of governors member whom the president said he was<\/em> firing this week? All your burning questions, answered here.<\/p>\n The president thinks Powell, whose term is up next May, should lower interest rates. Powell has not done that this year, citing the fact that inflation remains above the Fed\u2019s 2% target and the job market is healthy. Earlier this month, though, the Fed chair suggested<\/a> a rate cut could be coming\u2014possibly as early as September\u2014due to a slowdown in the labor market. (When the weaker-than-expected numbers came out, Trump responded by ordering the firing<\/a> of the head of the agency that compiled the data, a move that one economist called<\/a> \u201cbasically unprecedented.\u201d)<\/p>\n Uh, the kind of stuff that, in a normal workplace scenario, would get him hauled into HR\u2019s office and\/or slapped with a lawsuit alleging a hostile work environment. In May, Trump called<\/a> Powell \u201ca FOOL, who doesn\u2019t have a clue.\u201d The following month, the president, referring to the central banker<\/a>, told reporters: \u201cHe\u2019s an average, mentally, person\u2026Low IQ for what he does. I think he\u2019s a very stupid person, actually.\u201d Days later, Trump declared<\/a>: \u201cWe have a guy that\u2019s just a stubborn mule and a stupid person that is making a big mistake\u2026. We have a guy who\u2019s suffering from Trump derangement syndrome, if you want to know the truth. He\u2019s not good for our country.\u201d On July 14, Trump said<\/a> at the White House: \u201cWe have a bad Fed chairman, really bad. If he would lower the rates, if he would lower the rates. And I tried being nice to the guy. It doesn\u2019t help. He\u2019s like a knucklehead. Oh, he\u2019s a knucklehead, a stupid guy. He really is.\u201d<\/p>\n On July 16, confirming<\/a> a report that he\u2019d asked House lawmakers whether he should fire Powell, Trump told the press: \u201cI talked about the concept of firing him.\u201d He also apparently forgot he was the person who originally put Powell in the Fed job:<\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On July 18<\/a>, on Truth Social: \u201cSleepy Joe saw how bad he was and reappointed him anyway – And the Fed Board has done nothing to stop this \u2018numbskull\u2019 from hurting so many people. In many ways the Board is equally to blame!\u201d<\/p>\n On August 1<\/a>: \u201cJerome \u2018Too Late\u2019 Powell, a stubborn MORON, must substantially lower interest rates, NOW. IF HE CONTINUES TO REFUSE, THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, it wasn\u2019t. After nominating Powell for the job, Trump began to turn on him for raising interest rates. In November 2018, for example, he told<\/a> The Washington Post:<\/em> \u201cSo far, I\u2019m not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay. Not even a little bit. And I\u2019m not blaming anybody, but I\u2019m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off base with what they\u2019re doing.\u201d That December, he offered a golf metaphor, writing<\/a>: \u201cThe only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don\u2019t have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can\u2019t score because he has no touch – he can\u2019t putt!\u201d In September 2019, he tweeted<\/a>: \u201cJay Powell and the Federal Reserve Fail Again. No \u2018guts,\u2019 no sense, no vision! A terrible communicator!\u201d<\/p>\n Great question. Given that he didn\u2019t fire Powell the first time around, you might be thinking that the president doesn\u2019t<\/em> have the power to fire the Fed chief\u2014and you would be right! Mostly. Per Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act, the president of the United States can only remove a member of the Fed\u2019s board of governors, which includes the chair, \u201cfor cause.\u201d As CNN notes<\/a>, members of the board \u201ccannot be removed for policy differences, such as Trump\u2019s disagreement with the Fed\u2019s wait-and-see approach on interest rates,\u201d and \u201cTrump has to prove there is sufficient cause to successfully remove Powell.\u201d In the Fed\u2019s 111 years of existence, no chair has ever been removed<\/a> by a president. Then again, Trump has said and done a lot<\/a> of<\/a> things<\/a> with no historical precedent.<\/p>\n Late Monday, Trump took to Truth Social to announce his firing of Dr. Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve\u2019s board of governors. In a letter, of which he posted<\/a> images without additional comment, he accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud, saying her removal was \u201ceffective immediately\u201d and adding: \u201cThe American people must be able to have full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve. In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.\u201d In a statement released Monday, Cook responded<\/a> to the firing by saying: \u201cPresident Trump purported to fire me \u2018for cause\u2019 when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022.\u201d Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell,<\/strong> added that Trump\u2019s \u201creflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action.\u201d<\/p>\n Not well! \u201cThis is a kill shot at Fed independence,\u201d Brookings Institution senior fellow Aaron Klein<\/strong> told<\/a> Bloomberg.<\/em> \u201cTrump is saying the Fed is going to do what he wants it to do, by hook or by crook.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent,<\/strong> has apparently been on the hunt for a replacement; James Bullard,<\/strong> the former president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, has said<\/a> he would accept the job if, among other things, the central bank were to remain free from political interference. Which doesn\u2019t seem super likely!<\/p>\n Oh God, the list is so long, but a few examples, in addition to Powell and Musk, include: Trump\u2019s former attorney Michael Cohen,<\/strong> whom he previously called \u201ca fine person<\/a>\u201d and then declared a \u201cbad lawyer and fraudster<\/a>\u201d; former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci,<\/strong> who went from \u201ca person I have great respect for<\/a>\u201d to \u201ca highly unstable \u2018nut job\u2019<\/a>\u201d; onetime secretary of state Rex Tillerson,<\/strong> who was initially dubbed \u201cone of the truly great business leaders of the world<\/a>,\u201d then deemed \u201cdumb as a rock<\/a>\u201d and \u201clazy as hell<\/a>\u201d; and former national security adviser John Bolton,<\/strong> who in June 2019 was doing \u201ca very good job<\/a>\u201d and in August 2025 was having his home and office raided<\/a> by Trump\u2019s FBI.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to quantify this sort of thing. Some people might argue that the thousands of public servants who\u2019ve dedicated years to serving their country, only to have DOGE sicced on them, have the worst jobs. Others might claim that such a distinction goes to whoever has to clean Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/strong>\u2019s bathroom after he\u2019s done one of his raw-sewage swims<\/a>. But Powell, whose job also involves being berated on camera<\/a> while wearing a hard hat, seems pretty high up on the list.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhy is Trump angry at Powell?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What has Trump said about Powell?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Was everything peachy between Trump and Powell during the former\u2019s first term?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Does Trump have the power to fire Powell?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Who is Lisa Cook?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How are people receiving the Cook firing, which could theoretically be a test run for firing Powell?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
If Powell is fired, who will be Fed chair?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Who else has Trump hired, praised, and then publicly flogged?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Does Jerome Powell have the worst job in Washington?<\/strong><\/h2>\n