The president waved a copy of a draft letter firing Jerome H. Powell at a meeting in the Oval Office with House Republicans. It remains to be seen whether he follows through with his threat.
President Trump showed off a draft of a letter firing the chair of Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, during a meeting with roughly a dozen House Republicans on Tuesday night, polling them as to whether he should do it and indicating that he likely would, according to two people briefed on the meeting.
It remains to be seen whether Mr. Trump will actually go ahead with trying to fire Mr. Powell, a move that some in his administration have cautioned could be calamitous and have far more expansive fallout than the president appears to anticipate.
The meeting in the Oval Office was on an unrelated topic — the House members’ apprehensions about a crypto-related piece of potential legislation. But Mr. Trump used the meeting to discuss what has become one of his favorite topics: his hatred of Mr. Powell, whom he elevated to chair in 2017, during his first presidency.
Speaking from a separate meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mr. Trump confirmed that he had queried House lawmakers about whether he should fire Mr. Powell but said he had no imminent plans to do so.
“I talked about the concept of firing him. I said, ‘what do you think?’ Almost everyone of them said I should,” Mr. Trump said, adding “but I’m more conservative.” Mr. Trump, who often reflexively disputes news reports about his actions, said he hadn’t had a letter drafted. It was unclear if he was being literal and meant that someone else had composed it.
Mr. Trump has been increasing his angry rhetoric around Mr. Powell — whom he attacks for not cutting interest rates while overseas counterparts have done so — for the past several days. He has seized on renovations that are underway at the Fed to refurbish a nearly 100-year-old building that will eventually house most of the central bank’s staff.
