FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell leaves after his news conference after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, U.S., December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that President Donald Trump told him he had “never suggested firing” the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Mnuchin said in a tweet that Trump had told him that he “never suggested firing” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump also told Mnuchin he did not believe he had the right to fire Powell.
Sources had told Reuters on Saturday that Trump had privately discussed the possibility of firing Powell, a move that could roil already volatile financial markets.
Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by James Dalgleish
