US President Donald Trump is likely to fire Fed chief Jerome Powell in the near future, a White House source told Bloomberg. According to him, the American leader discussed such a possibility at a meeting with Republicans in Congress on the evening Tuesday, July 15. 

Trump himself stated to reporters on Wednesday that he "has no plans to take any action" to remove Powell, though he acknowledged that he had spoken to his fellow party members about it. He said "almost every one of them" supported the idea of the Fed chief resigning. When asked if he completely ruled out firing Powell, the president said "it's highly unlikely unless he has to go" because of fraud.

As Bloomberg notes, Powell's possible firing could cause turmoil in financial markets as well as a major legal standoff.

Leading U.S. indices after the publication of the agency about the planned resignation lost morning growth and went into the minus. S&P 500 declined by 0.5%, technology Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.6%, the blue-chip index Dow Jones - by 0.6%. Later, they partially compensated for the losses, and the Dow Jones even entered the "green zone". The VIX market volatility index, also called the "Wall Street fear index", jumped 7%.

Trump has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Fed's refusal to cut interest rates as demanded by the president, and administration officials have confirmed in recent days that the process of selecting a successor to Powell, whose term expires in May 2026, has already begun. At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Tuesday that Trump has no plans to fire the Fed chief. 

Speculation on the matter increased sharply after White House officials publicly criticized the implementation of a $2.5 billion project to renovate the Fed's headquarters. Trump may use this as a reason to oust Powell, MarketWatch speculated. The market puts the probability of the Fed chairman resigning at 30 percent, Capital Alpha Ian Katz, managing director at Capital Alpha, told the portal on Tuesday. "In reality, Trump wants Powell to resign. But we think that's unlikely," he said. 

The news is supplemented.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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