Trump suggests he can remove Fed Chair Powell and says he's 'not happy' with him over interest rates

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday for not cutting interest rates and said he could fire him if he wanted to, renewing a threat from his first term that could cause a major legal showdown over the issue of the central bank's long-standing political independence.

“If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me," Trump said in the Oval Office while taking questions from reporters during a visit with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I'm not happy with him.”

Trump's comments followed a posting on his social media site in which the Republican president called on Powell to lower the Fed's short-term interest rate and said, "Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” The Fed chair's term ends in May 2026.

Powell was initially nominated by Trump in 2017 and was appointed to another four-year term by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022. At a November news conference, Powell indicated he would not step down if Trump asked him to resign and, in remarks Wednesday, made clear that “our independence is a matter of law.” He added: “We’re not removable except for cause. We serve very long terms, seemingly endless terms.”

Trump's criticism stems from his view that, as he said Thursday, “we have essentially no inflation." The Fed sharply raised rates in 2022 and 2023 to slow borrowing and spending and tame inflation, which dropped steadily from a peak of 9.1% in 2022 to 2.4% last month. Inflation is not far from the Fed's target of 2%. The Fed even cut rates three times at the end of last year.

But since then, Powell and most other Fed policymakers have underscored that they are keeping rates on hold because of the uncertainty created by Trump's sweeping tariffs, including a 10% tax on all imports and a 145% levy on imports from China.

In remarks Wednesday in Chicago, Powell reiterated that the Fed was waiting for greater clarity before making any moves and said the tariffs would likely worsen inflation.

Powell has steadfastly maintained that the Fed is independent from politics, a stance that Fed chairs have stressed since at least the 1970s. Back then, the Fed was widely seen as worsening a 15-year run of high inflation by giving in to demands from President Richard Nixon to keep interest rates low in the run-up to the 1972 election.

Economic research has suggested an independent central bank is more likely to keep inflation in check because it is more willing to do unpopular things, such as lift interest rates, to fight rising prices. Wall Street investors also largely prefer an independent Fed, though the stock market did not appear to react to Trump's comments.

Powell said Wednesday that the Fed will base its decisions solely on what's best for all Americans.

“That’s the only thing we’re ever going to do,” Powell said. “We’re never going to be influenced by any political pressure.”

He also suggested that the central bank will focus on fighting inflation in the wake of the tariffs, which would likely mean they would keep rates elevated.

Trump complained that interest rates are still rising “because we have a Federal Reserve chairman that is playing politics.” Yet longer-term rates rose after Trump announced his trade penalties.

Trump and members of his economic team have said they would like longer-term interest rates to fall, which would make it cheaper for Americans to borrow to buy homes, cars and appliances. Yet the Fed controls a short-term rate and can only indirectly affect longer-term borrowing costs.

A case before the Supreme Court could make it easier for a president to fire top officials, such as the Fed chair, at independent agencies. At issue are two Trump firings, which the justice have let stand while they consider the case.

Powell said he is watching the case closely but that it might not apply to the Fed, given that the court has in the past carved out exemptions for the central bank. Lawyers for the Trump administration, seeking to narrow the focus of the case, have also argued that it does not involve the Fed.

In a 2024 campaign interview with Bloomberg News, Trump said he would allow Powell to serve out his term as chair. Earlier this month, Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said in a television interview that “there's not going to be any political coercion over the Fed, for sure.”

Powell started Trump’s second term in a relatively secure spot with a low unemployment rate and inflation progressing closer to the Fed’s 2% target, conditions that could have spared him from the president’s criticism.

But Trump’s tariffs have increased the threat of a recession with higher inflationary pressures and slower growth, a tough spot for Powell, whose mandate is to stabilize prices and maximize employment. With the economy weakening because of Trump’s moves, the president appears to be looking to pin the blame on Powell.

On April 2, Trump rolled out increased tariff hikes based off U.S. trade deficits with other nations, causing a financial market backlash that almost immediately led him to announce a 90-day pause.

Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs have raised their odds that a recession could start. Consumers are increasingly pessimistic in surveys about their job prospects and fearful that inflation will shoot up as the cost of the import taxes get passed along to them.

The Budget Lab at Yale University estimated that the increased inflationary pressures from the tariffs would be equal to the loss of $4,900 in an average U.S. household.

Associated Press journalist Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump listens as he meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump listens as he meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the White House, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell speaks during an event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell speaks during an event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell speaks during an event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell speaks during an event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — An Army combat veteran whose Gulf War experience triggered severe mental problems was executed Thursday evening in Florida for the 1998 shotgun slayings of his girlfriend and her three young children.

Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was the fourth person executed this year in the state under death warrants signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, with a fifth execution set for May 15.

Hutchinson had no last statement but appeared to be mumbling to himself as the procedure started just before 8 p.m. His legs shook sporadically, and he seemed to have body spasms for several minutes and then was still. The process took a little more than 15 minutes.

The execution was carried out soon after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment.

Hutchinson had long claimed that he was innocent and that two unknown assailants perpetrated the killings under a U.S. government conspiracy aimed at silencing his activism on claims including Gulf War illnesses involving veterans. Hutchinson served eight years in the Army, part of it as an elite Ranger.

Court records, however, showed that on the night of the killings in Crestview, Hutchinson argued with his girlfriend, 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, then packed his clothes and guns into a truck. Hutchinson went to a bar and drank some beer, telling staff there that Flaherty was angry with him before leaving abruptly.

A short time later, a male caller told a 911 operator, “I just shot my family” from the house Hutchinson and Flaherty shared with the three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. All were killed with a 12-gauge shotgun that was found on a kitchen counter. Hutchinson was located by police in the garage with a phone still connected to the 911 center and gunshot residue on his hands.

Darran Johnson, the brother of Renee Flaherty, said after the execution that justice was done but the family’s pain will never end.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t think about the loved ones that were taken from us,” Johnson said.

At his 2001 trial, Hutchinson’s defense was based on his claim that two unknown men came to the house and killed Flaherty and the children after he struggled with them. A jury found him guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, and he received life in prison for Flaherty’s killing and three death sentences for the children.

Hutchinson filed numerous unsuccessful appeals, many focused on mental health problems linked to his Army service. In late April his lawyers sought to delay his execution by claiming he was insane and therefore could not be put to death.

Bradford County Circuit Judge James Colaw rejected that argument in an April 27 order.

“This Court finds that Mr. Hutchinson’s purported delusion is demonstrably false. Jeffrey Hutchinson does not lack the mental capacity to understand the reason for the pending execution,” the judge wrote.

In their court filings, Hutchinson’s lawyers said he suffered from Gulf War Illness — a series of health problems stemming from the 1990-1991 war in Iraq — as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia related to his claim that he was targeted by government surveillance.

Florida’s lethal injection protocol uses a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.

So far this year, 15 people have been put to death in the U.S. including Hutchinson.

A fifth Florida execution is scheduled May 15 for Glen Rogers, who was convicted of killing a woman at a motel in 1997. Rogers also was convicted of another woman’s murder in California and is believed by investigators to have killed others around the country.

FILE - This image provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Jeffrey Hutchinson. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP, File)

This image provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Jeffrey Hutchinson. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP)