Trump Warns He’ll ‘Fire’ Fed Chair If He Refuses to Leave Until DOJ Probe Ends: ‘I Hate to Be Controversial’

President Donald Trump warned that he would “fire” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he refuses to leave office when his term ends in May, after Powell said he had “no intention” of stepping down until a Justice Department probe into him was concluded.

Powell, who has repeatedly clashed with the president’s demands that the central bank lower interest rates, is subject to a DOJ investigation launched in January into his congressional testimony over the Fed’s headquarters renovation.

The Fed chair has characterized the probe as an attempt to coerce him into cutting interest rates.

The investigation has delayed Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Fed after Powell, with outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) vowing to block the confirmation until the probe is resolved.

Speaking to Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday, the president said he would simply “fire” Powell if he attempted to stay past May.

Bartiromo pressed Trump on whether he believed Warsh would be confirmed next week, noting Tillis’s stance, prompting the president to blast Powell and rail against the renovations made to the Federal Reserve building.

“It’s more than a criminal probe. It’s a criminal probe, I guess, but it’s also a probe on incompetence,” he said, arguing that he built a “bigger” hotel just “down the road” from the Fed building for less.

“They’re going to spend maybe $4 billion and, you know what, I’m not sure the thing is ever going to open!” he added.

As Trump continued to talk at length about the building, Bartiromo cut in: “You want Jay Powell out of the way. Isn’t the easiest way to get him out of the way to end the probe?”

“I do, but does that mean we stop a probe of a building that I would have done for $25 million, that’s going to cost maybe $4 billion?” the president replied, comparing it to other projects, including California’s high-speed rail system.

“So you’re not going to drop the probe?” Bartiromo interjected.

“I’m not planning, I have to find out,” Trump said.

Bartiromo pushed back: “He said he’s not leaving if–”

Trump replied: “Then 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. I want to be uncontroversial.”

The host followed by pressing Trump on whether he believed Tillis would give Warsh his vote.

“We’ll have to find out. He might not, but that’s why Thom Tillis is no longer a senator. Thom Tillis is no longer a senator, right? He quit,” Trump snapped.

“He is on his way out,” Bartiromo corrected.

“Nah, he quit,” Trump replied, and calling Tillis a “good man” warned that the outgoing senator “doesn’t want the legacy of having an incompetent guy stay there for longer than is necessary.”

Watch above via Fox Business.

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