Trump says he will 'probably' sue Fed's Powell

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said Monday that he will "probably" bring a lawsuit against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

"We're thinking about bringing a suit against Powell for incompetence," Trump said at a news conference along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the state of Florida.

He claimed that Powell is "just incompetent."

"There's nothing you can do about (it). He's just a very incompetent man, but we're going to probably bring a lawsuit against him," he added.

Trump has for months urged the Fed to cut interest rates and said selecting a successor to Powell, whose term as chairman of the central bank expires in May 2026, would give him his biggest opportunity yet to reshape the institution.

He has repeatedly criticized Powell as overly hesitant and timid on rate cuts and has suggested that he expects his replacement to move more aggressively to lower rates.

Trump said he plans to unveil his nominee for the next chair sometime in January.

"He's come close. I mean, we're getting pretty close. I would fire him. I would love to fire him, but we're so close, you know, maybe, maybe I still might," he told reporters.