Trump teases he'll fire Bessent if Fed doesn't cut interest rates

Source: CNN Politics

Updated Nov 19, 2025, 3:58 PM ET
PUBLISHED Nov 19, 2025, 2:10 PM ET


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.

However, it won’t be easy for Trump to bend the Fed to his will: The Fed makes its decisions on interest rates independently, based solely on economic data, meaning that firing Bessent would simply not lead to lower rates. Several Fed officials have also said in recent public comments that they remain concerned about inflation, leaning against further rate cuts.

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.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/19/politics/bessent-trump-federal-reserve-powell