President Donald Trump said Jerome Powell would be out as Federal Reserve chair within eight months, describing him as a “numbskull” for keeping interest rates “too high.” Trump made the comments at a White House news conference on Tuesday during a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Powell’s statutory term runs through May 15, 2026, meaning Trump’s timeline would end the chair’s tenure about two months early. While Trump reiterated that he is unlikely to fire Powell, he maintained the Fed should cut its benchmark rate by three percentage points from the current 4.25%–4.50% target range. The administration has intensified its pressure campaign on the central bank, including a review of Fed building renovations that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says merit an internal investigation. Economists at Goldman Sachs and Barclays warned that sustained political interference could weaken confidence in the Fed’s independence, lift inflation expectations and ultimately oblige policymakers to keep borrowing costs higher for longer.