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Trump: There was never a plan to fire Powell, it was all false statements spread by the media

On April 23, according to The Wall Street Journal, President Trump stated this week that he never had a plan to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and accused the media of spreading false statements. However, within the White House, some senior officials took Trump's recent public suggestion to fire Powell seriously. According to insiders, as Trump's criticism of the Federal Reserve Chairman intensified last week, White House lawyers privately reviewed legal options for attempting to remove Powell. Earlier this week, when Trump told his senior aides that he would not try to remove Powell, these discussions abruptly stopped. These individuals said that under the intervention of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Ross, Trump made this decision, warning him that such a move could lead to far-reaching market turmoil and a chaotic legal battle. One person said that Ross also informed the president that firing the Federal Reserve Chairman would likely not result in any actual changes in interest rates, as other members of the Federal Reserve Board would likely adopt similar monetary policies to Powell.