By Samantha Waldenberg, Bryan Mena, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested he would fire Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent if the Federal Reserve doesn’t decrease interest rates.

“The only thing Scott is blowing it on is the Fed because the Fed, the rates are too high, Scott. If you don’t get it fixed fast, I’m going to fire your ass,” the president said, smirking, during a speech at a US-Saudi investment forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

The president has been a frequent critic of the central bank and its chair, Jerome Powell, throughout his second term as the Federal Reserve declined to cut interest rates this year until September. But he acknowledged on Wednesday that Bessent has been privately urging him not to fire Powell, whom Trump has repeatedly said he wants out of the job.

Trump appeared to suggest that Bessent has been the “voice of reason,” while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “is a little bit more for firing” Powell.

“Please don’t fire him. He’s got three months to go,’” the president said, appearing to repeat what Bessent has told him of Powell.

“I want to get him out,” Trump said, reenacting their conversation.

“I think Howard is a little bit more for firing him. I think Howard would say get him the hell out of there,” the president said

Trump frequently threatened to fire Powell during the spring, but the president eventually backed off from those threats after his closest advisers warned of the chaos in financial markets that could ensue if he were to do so, CNN previously reported.

Wednesday is the first time Trump has appeared to suggest that Bessent, who has become well-respected on Wall Street, was one of the voices urging him to keep Powell in his role until the end of his term.

“Markets have really appreciated having Bessent around,” James Ragan, director of wealth management research at DA Davidson, told CNN. “He’s been very much the voice of reason in the Trump administration, so I don’t like to hear him challenging Bessent.”

Trump has been consistently critical of Powell, commonly referring to him as “too late,” “a numbskull” and “a complete moron.” Although Powell is the highest-ranking Fed official and has considerable sway, he’s just one of 12 people who vote on rate decisions.

The Fed’s rate-setting committee, led by Powell as chair, began to lower interest rates in September for the first time in nine months, and delivered another quarter-point rate cut at its latest meeting last month. October’s rate cuts bring the benchmark lending rate to its lowest in three years.

The Fed has been lowering rates to prevent unemployment from surging, though officials are divided over whether they should continue to lower rates with inflation still above their 2% target and Trump’s tariffs still threatening to push inflation higher.

New data on the labor market’s health in September, which was delayed due to the government shutdown, is due on Thursday. Signs that the labor market is falling off a cliff would prompt the Fed to continue to lowering borrowing costs heading into next year, though officials are keeping a close eye on inflation.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.