Trump says Powell 'should resign' from central bank, as Fed Gov. Kugler did

Hadriana Lowenkron, Magan Crane and Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg News on Aug 1, 2025

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Jerome Powell should follow in the footsteps of Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler and resign from the central bank, ratcheting up his feud with the central bank chair.

“‘Too Late’ Powell should resign, just like Adriana Kugler, a Biden Appointee, resigned. She knew he was doing the wrong thing on Interest Rates. He should resign, also,” Trump said on social media.

The Fed announced Friday that Kugler will step down from her position on its board, handing Trump an opportunity to install a policymaker who aligns with his demands for lower interest rates. Kugler’s governor term was not set to expire until January 2026.

Trump told reporters Friday that he is “very happy” to have an open spot on the Fed board and that he believed Kugler decided to step down because “she disagreed” with Powell on rate-setting policy. Kugler’s public positions on borrowing costs have closely aligned with Powell.

The post calling for the chair’s resignation was just the latest in an escalating series of attacks on Powell throughout the day following a decision by Fed officials to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday.

On Friday morning, Trump demanded Powell “substantially lower interest rates,” adding that “IF HE CONTINUES TO REFUSE, THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!”

In a subsequent post, following a weak July jobs report, Trump said he was directing his team to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and that “Powell should also be put ‘out to pasture.’”

Following Wednesday’s decision to hold rates steady, Trump has resumed his sharp criticism of Powell after a short-lived detente, hammering the central bank chief over rate-setting policies and a renovation of the Fed’s headquarters that critics have accused the chair of mismanaging. Trump has asked lawmakers about whether he should fire Powell, then told reporters he had no intention of doing so, suggesting he was willing to wait until the bank chief’s term as chair ends in May.

Rate decisions are made by the Federal Open Market Committee, which Powell chairs. Its voters include the seven members of the Fed Board of Governors in Washington, and five presidents of the Fed’s regional reserve banks. The FOMC elects its leader and a vice chair once a year.

In a press conference this week, Powell didn’t offer any clear sign that policymakers were likely to cut at their next meeting, in September. Powell has leaned into the view that the Fed is well-positioned for now, given lingering uncertainties surrounding the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs. Investors now anticipate two cuts by year’s end.

Two Fed governors, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, voted against Wednesday’s decision, the first time two members of the board have dissented since 1993.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday he expected Trump to be able to announce Powell’s replacement by the end of the year.

“We are putting together a very good list of candidates,” he told CNBC. “I would expect that we could have an announcement by the end of the year.”