US stock markets started falling again on Monday morning as Donald Trump continued attacks against the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, who Trump called “a major loser” for not lowering interest rates.
“There can be a slowing of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” Trump wrote on social media.
In recent days, Trump has amped up attacks against the Fed chair, pushing Powell to lower interest rates to offset the inflationary impacts of the new tariffs.
Wall Street appeared to be worried about the new attacks. US stocks started slumping on the news. The Dow was down 1,000 points, 2.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was over 3% down and the S&P 500 fell 2.9%.
Stock markets had recovered the losses they endured after Trump rolled out his “liberation day” tariffs proposals, which would have imposed huge levies on all of the US’s trading partners. But almost all the gains made in the stock market following Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause of his so-called reciprocal tariffs have been erased amid these new jabs against Powell.
Powell, known to be extremely measured in his public remarks, has in recent weeks spoken out about Trump’s tariffs and warned that they may lead to a “challenging scenario” for the Fed, implying that the Fed has no plans to cut interest rates anytime soon.
“Tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation. The inflation effects could also be more persistent,” Powell told reporters on 16 April.
The Fed has long been treated as a nonpartisan, nonpolitical federal agency, though Trump has recently floated the idea of terminating Powell, whose term is up in May 2026. “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” Trump wrote on social media last week.
Such a move would be unprecedented and would likely put Wall Street into a further tailspin. In an interview with CNBC, Krishna Guha, vice-chairman of Evercore ISI, an equity research firm, said that there would be a “severe reaction” from markets if Trump fires Powell.
“I can’t believe that’s what the administration is trying to achieve,” Guha said.
It’s also unclear whether Trump has the authority to remove Powell from his post. The supreme court is currently hearing a case that could give Trump more power to fire federal officials before their terms are up, though it’s unclear whether that could reach the Fed.
Last week, Powell emphasized the importance of the Fed’s independence from political forces.
“Our independence is a matter of law,” Powell said. “We serve very long terms, seemingly endless terms, so we’re protected by the law.”
