Trump threatens to fire Powell if he doesn’t step down as Federal Reserve chair

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would fire Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve if he does not leave that post “in time,” and insisted that the Justice Department investigation into the central bank leader would continue.

“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 that aired Wednesday.