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Powell cannot change monetary policy on his own even if he wanted to: a majority of the FOMC gotta vote for it and the FOMC will not cut rates as inflation will start going higher as tariffs kick in. Even if Trump were to fire Powell he would not be able bend the FOMC . Trump is shooting himself in the foot with this talk of firing Powell: lower stocks , higher bond yields, higher credit spreads and a weaker dollar. A repeated own goal. Also Powell/Fed not blinking is good for Trump: if Fed were to blink and cut short policy rates the bond yields would go much higher and equities lower as Fed would be behind the curve in anchoring inflation expectations at a time of inflationary tariffs. Powell not blinking in this game of chicken is what prevents bond yields from spiking further. Even if Trump were to fire Powell and win the legal battle (as the Supreme Court may rule in his favor) this would be a totally Pyrrhic victory as the result would be a de-anchoring of inflation expectations and higher bond yields. So Powell is helping Trump by not blinking but somehow Trump doesn’t get it. The only semi-rational explanation of Trump’s behavior is that he is preparing to blame Powell for the coming growth slowdown and near recession. So blame the coming stagflation on Powell and on Xi. Not clear that this clumsy blame game will fly even with the MAGA base whose sentiment is heading south, let alone with financial markets. Score repeated own goals and blame them on the other teams! Which fool will fall for such an obvious ruse?! Not even hard-core MAGA supporters!