Trump threatens to fire Fed chair Powell if he doesn’t step down ‘in time’

US President Donald Trump has said he will fire Jerome Powell if the Federal Reserve chair does not step down “in time”, adding that he will not drop the Justice Department investigation into the central bank leader.“I’ll have to fire him, OK, if he’s not leaving on time. I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business.“I want to be uncontroversial. But he will be fired,” he said in the interview taped on Wednesday and aired on Thursday.Powell’s stint as the leader of the central bank expires in May, but his term on Board of Governors does not end until 2028. Trump did not clarify the timeline for which he would seek to remove Powell.Powell has said that if his successor is not confirmed before his term as chair ends in May, he would serve as chair pro tempore. The Fed has conferred that temporary designation in the past on a board member to lead the institution when the chair role was vacant.The US Federal Reserve building in Washington. Photo: ReutersTrump allies have hoped that Powell would also resign his board seat when his time leading the central bank comes to a close this spring. Powell, however, has said he has “no intention” of resigning from the board until the Trump administration’s investigation by the Department of Justice into a building renovation project is “well and truly over”.