Trump escalates threats to fire US Federal Reserve Chair Powell

In an interview with Fox Business, Trump says he will fire Powell if he does not leave his board seat once his term ends.United States President Donald Trump says he would fire US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from his separate seat on the central bank’s board of governors if Powell does not step down voluntarily when his term ends on May 15.The president on Wednesday ramped up threats against Powell, saying in an interview with Fox Business that if Powell does not leave, then he would “have to fire him”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Global oil demand to plunge amid disruptions caused by war on Iran: IEAlist 2 of 4Fed nominee Warsh’s financial disclosures point to assets well over $100mlist 3 of 4IMF cuts global growth forecast during Hormuz blockadelist 4 of 4US military says blockade of Iran ports ‘completely’ halts economic tradeend of list“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, you know. I want to be uncontroversial, but he will be fired,” Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.“President Trump’s threats of firing Chair Powell are hardly surprising, but are simply not consistent with what the law provides. The president already appears to be losing in court in his attempt to fire [Fed] Governor Lisa Cook, and he will likely lose again if he tries to fire Chair Powell,” Skanda Amarnath, executive director of Employ America, an economic policy think tank, told Al Jazeera.Trump’s comments come amidst delays in the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, Trump’s pick to succeed Powell as the Fed chair. Warsh’s confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee is slated for next Tuesday.But whether he will be confirmed remains unclear. Last month, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said that he would block Warsh’s confirmation until the federal criminal probe into Powell has ended. If a nominee fails to be confirmed, Powell would stay on as the chair until one is confirmed.