Trump Goes After Fed Chair at White House Event: ‘Don’t Tell Him I Said That’

President Donald Trump took a swipe at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during a White House event, joking to the media “Don’t tell him I said that as the cameras rock and roll back there.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell for weeks, invoking his “termination” less than 24 hours after Powell’s remarks on the worsening impact of Trump’s tariff policies.

White House officials have defended Trump’s right to “influence” Powell, but Trump backed off his implied threats to fire Powell as the stock market reacted to the attacks.

“I have no intention of firing him. I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” Trump said of Powell during an Oval Office event two weeks ago, which caused the cratering stock market to jump.

But at an “Investing in America” event at the White House Wednesday, Trump continued his campaign by taking a swipe at Powell toward the end of his speech.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Mortgage rates are actually down slightly, even though I have a guy in the Fed that I’m not a huge fan of, but that’s all right. These are minor details.

Don’t tell him I said that, please? As the cameras rock and roll back there.

No, I’m just — I mean, he should reduce the ener — he should reduce interest rates. I think I understand interest a lot better than him.

Because I’ve had to really use interest rates. But we should have interest rates go down. It would be positive, but it’s not going to matter that much because, ultimately, what we’re creating has much more to do with other things than it does just pure interest rates.

But it would be nice for people wanting to buy homes and things.

Watch above via The White House.