President Donald Trump escalated his attacks against the Federal Reserve on Friday, threatening to fire Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor.
“Yeah, I’ll fire her if she doesn’t resign,” he told reporters. “What she did was bad. So I’ll fire her if she doesn’t resign.”
Cook has been a governor on the Federal Reserve Board since 2022. But she has been under fire from the Trump administration since Aug. 15, when Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte alleged that Cook had committed mortgage fraud by claiming two different properties as a primary home address. He wrote the administration is probing a third property she owns as well.
Trump had previously written on Truth Social that “Cook must resign, now!!!”
Trending
The president has repeatedly targeted the Federal Reserve, particularly Chair Jerome Powell over his refusal to lower interest rates at Trump’s demand. The president has threatened to fire Powell in the past, but at other times said he would allow him to serve out his term.
The stock, currency and bond markets have often reacted poorly to the perceived threat on Fed independence.
The Trump administration has encouraged Powell to remove Cook. Department of Justice lawyer Ed Martin told Powell in a letter: “At this time, I encourage you to remove Ms. Cook from your Board. Do it today before it is too late!”
On Wednesday, Cook said in a statement that she has “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”
“I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts,” she continued.
Author
