Trump was warned of financial turmoil if he fired Powell. Now, his U-turn has stocks roaring higher

President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell caused alarm among some of his top advisers, who warned him that any attempt to remove the head of the central bank could cause as much market turmoil as his ongoing trade war, according to people familiar with the conversations.

President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell caused alarm among some of his top advisers, who warned him that any attempt to remove the head of the central bank could cause as much market turmoil as his ongoing trade war, according to people familiar with the conversations. The warnings — and the markets’ own volatility this week — seemed to have broken through. Trump backed down Tuesday from his threats to try to remove Powell from the job, telling reporters in the Oval Office: “I have no intention of firing him.” That prompted sighs of relief on Wall Street. A day after markets boomed on comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Trump would seek to de-escalate the trade war with China, US markets surged again. The Dow gained more than 1,000 points, or 2.5%, Wednesday morning. The broader S&P 500 was up 3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 3.9%. Investors bought US Treasury bonds again, sending the benchmark 10-year yield, which trades in the opposite direction from prices, down sharply below 4.3%. Top administration officials were also relieved by Trump’s Oval Office statement on Powell, the people familiar with the matter said. The officials had become unnerved by the heated rhetoric and wary of a prolonged legal battle should Trump attempt to unseat the Fed chair.