President Trump stepped up his attacks on the Fed chairman at various times throughout the year.
Mr. Trump, who appointed Jerome Powell to the role during his first term, has long pressured Mr. Powell to lower interest rates on a whim. But the feud with the central bank governor appears to have reached a new level this year after Powell demanded an immediate rate cut and called him “stupid” and “too slow” on Truth Social.
In April, President Trump said that Powell's withdrawal from the Federal Reserve could not happen soon, and U.S. stocks plummeted.
When Bloomberg reported in July that President Trump could soon fire Powell, the stock sold off again. The 10-year Treasury yield, which reflects the economy's long-term interest rates, also rose under these circumstances.
Many consider the Trump administration's comments unprecedented, given that most past presidents have allowed the Fed to operate independently. It also raised concerns that the president's intervention in monetary policy could lead to higher inflation and higher interest rates in the long run.
President Trump made it clear in April that he had no intention of firing Powell. But the president still seemed to downplay the idea as a hypothesis when he spoke to reporters at Mar-a-Lago this week.
