Jerome Powell’s days may be very numbered…
According to a new report from The New York Times, President Trump is in possession of a termination letter to fire Jerome Powell from his position as Federal Reserve chair.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump has drafted a letter to FIRE Jerome Powell, per NYT
Man, I REALLY hope this is true.
Send it, @realDonaldTrump! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4LxLQCAR2p
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 16, 2025
Reportedly, President Trump showed the letter to House Republicans during a meeting in the Oval Office last night.
He asked them whether he should go ahead and send it.
Breaking News: President Trump drafted a letter to fire Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, and asked Republicans if he should send it and indicated that he likely would. https://t.co/uoRm6ruGo9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 16, 2025
The letter was allegedly given to President Trump by Federal Housing Director William (Bill) J. Pulte.
The New York Times report reads:
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.
After Mr. Trump spoke, two people with knowledge of the matter said that a draft of a letter firing Mr. Powell was given to the president earlier in the week by William J. Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
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President Trump later said that he probably won’t follow through with firing Powell, but will instead appoint someone better once his term is up.
Per NBC News:
Asked whether he would fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Trump said Powell “has always been too late.”
“I think he does a terrible job,” Trump said.
“He’s doing a lousy job. But no, I’m not talking about that. We get, fortunately, we get to make a change in the next, what, eight months or so, and we’ll pick somebody that’s good,” Trump said, referring to Powell’s term ending next year.
The president, though, confirmed he talked about firing Powell with lawmakers yesterday, adding that they were in favor of firing the chair.
However, this is far from over.
President Trump has also recently said that Jerome Powell might be removed from his position for a very specific reason having to do with a multi-billion dollar Federal Reserve renovation project.
If Powell committed fraud here, which President Trump and many others — like Bill Pulte — suspect, then it could provide a clear basis for firing him.
Bill Pulte has put in a request to tour the renovations project:
🚨 BREAKING: Trump Federal Housing Director Bill Pulte officially requests a TOUR of the Fed renovations costing $2.5B after Trump says Jerome Powell could be removed if he committed fraud.
"As someone with deep experience in construction, I am requesting to tour the Fed… pic.twitter.com/ne2DzpOunQ
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 16, 2025
He believes it will cost Powell his career:
“This building fiasco that Jay Powell has grossly mismanaged will be the end of his career.” — Bill Pulte, U.S. Director of Federal Housing@Pulte demands an audit of the $2.5B Fed renovation: “It smells very bad… I think there's fraud.” pic.twitter.com/kxAC4dbC2S
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) July 15, 2025
AP News has more on the renovations project, and why it may lead to Powell’s removal:
President Donald Trump says he has finally found a way to achieve his goal of removing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, accusing him of mismanaging the U.S. central bank’s $2.5 billion renovation project. It’s unclear if Trump will follow through, but he has been outspoken about wanting Powell gone.
The push comes after a monthslong campaign by Trump to try to rid himself of the politically independent central banker, who has resisted the Republican president’s calls to slash interest rates out of concerns about the administration’s tariffs sparking higher levels of inflation.
Trump indicated Tuesday that Powell’s handling of an extensive renovation project on two Fed buildings in Washington could be grounds to take the unprecedented and possibly legally dubious step of firing him. “I think it sort of is,” Trump said.
“When you spend $2.5 billion on, really, a renovation, I think it’s really disgraceful,” Trump said, adding that he never saw the Fed chair as someone who needed a “palace.”
The project has been underway for years, going back to Trump’s first term. But it only recently caught the White House’s attention. Trump maintains Fed rate cuts would lower the costs of government borrowing, while Powell has warned a premature rate cut could worsen inflation and ultimately raise those borrowing costs.
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