“I can’t tell you, ‘Scott, sir, don’t fire him. Sir, please, don’t fire him. He’s got three months to go. Don’t fire him.’ I want to get him out. Scott, please. ‘He’s a voice of reason,’” Trump continued, mimicking Bessent’s advocacy for Powell. “‘You’re very lucky you have him, I’ll tell you that. Done a good job.’”

A smiling Bessent appeared to take Trump’s remarks in good humor. The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for clarification about the seriousness of Trump’s comments.

Nonetheless, this marks the first time the president has disclosed that Bessent has pushed for Powell not to lose his job.

Trump has long voiced his anger with Powell’s leadership as his administration wrestles with bringing down grocery prices and inflation. The president continued his ire against Powell on Wednesday, claiming that the Fed chairman has “some real mental problems.”

TRUMP FETES SAUDI CROWN PRINCE WITH PSEUDO-STATE DINNER ATTENDED BY CRISTIANO RONALDO

“There’s something wrong with him,” Trump said. “I’ll be honest, I’d love to fire his ass. He should be fired. Guy’s grossly incompetent. And he should be sued for spending $4 billion to build a little building.”

Trump’s speech largely focused on affordability and the economy, two issues that voters have ranked as their biggest priorities, one year out from the 2026 midterm elections and after Democrats won key gubernatorial races this year by focusing on pocketbook issues.

“They came up with the new word ‘affordability’ … we were all about affordability, and everyone assumes that that meant that ‘no, their prices were high,’” Trump said, trashing Democrats. “If you look at the numbers since I took office, core inflation is now below 2.7%. It was at numbers that nobody had ever seen before with them. Walmart just announced that the cost of their standard Thanksgiving meal is reduced by 25% this year from last year.”

Trump continues Saudi charm offensive

Trump’s full-court press of his relationship with Saudi Arabia continued on Wednesday as he championed a trillion-dollar investment from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The speech in Washington comes one day after Trump defended bin Salman against tough questioning on the Sept. 11 attacks and the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi
from reporters and held a black-tie pseudo-state dinner in the Saudi leader’s honor.

“We have [an] extremely respected man in the Oval Office today, and a friend of mine for a long time,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with bin Salman in the Oval Office. “A very good friend of mine. I’m very proud of the job he’s done. What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else.”

Trump also announced that the United States is designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally during the Tuesday evening dinner.

Former Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also spoke at the forum on Wednesday. Musk and Huang were among the top business leaders who also attended the dinner, as well as Apple CEO Tim Cook and soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for the Saudi team Al Nassr.

TRUMP DEFENDS SAUDI CROWN PRINCE WHILE DOWNPLAYING KHASHOGGI MURDER: ‘THINGS HAPPEN’

The two tech leaders announced that xAI and Nvidia are working on a 500-megawatt AI project with Saudi Arabia.

Musk also claimed that if current AI and robotics trends continue, “Money will stop being relevant at some point in the future.”