Analysts caution market volatility as fresh rumors of Fed Chair Jerome Powell exit spread

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has come under renewed public pressure from President Donald Trump. Rumors started making the rounds on X on June 1, 2025, that Powell was stepping down and the interest rates would soon be cut. However, there has been no official confirmation, and many market analysts are waving off the claims as unfounded.

This rumor, cast widely on social platform X on June 1, 2025, stated that Powell was stepping down and the interest rates would soon be cut. However, there has been no official confirmation, and many market analysts are waving off the claims as unfounded.

Powel to resign tomorrow 🚨

I see lots of these nonsense posts on CT today

Let me tell you

1st – it’s not gonna happen

2nd – if that happened, the markets would dump significantly

⚡️ Why?
Trust in dollar and US economy would decrease instantly

Just remember what happened… pic.twitter.com/1U2wEVNFE5

— Lana Queen (@Lana_Queen7) June 1, 2025

Polymarket traders seemed equally unimpressed. Despite the rumor, the odds on the prediction market for the question ‘Will Trump remove Jerome Powell in 2025?’ stayed steady at 14%, indicating no increase in confidence in the rumor. Analysts said this skepticism stemmed from a lack of institutional support and a constitutional limit to dismissing the Fed chair.

Trump met with Powell on Thursday at the White House, their first sit down since the president’s return to office. The Fed statement said Powell did not appear to shift the policy direction and reiterated that monetary decisions would remain strictly data-dependent. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that meeting, saying that Trump pressed Powell to cut interest rates, citing his country’s economic disadvantage compared to countries like China.

Trump has made no secret that he is frustrated with the Fed chair. In April, he tweeted on Truth Social that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough.” He later walked that back, saying he “had no intention” of firing him.

The Supreme Court has weighed in as well, making it quite clear that Trump does not have the power to dismiss the Fed chair before his term ends in 2026.

Fed independence tested as pressure builds

Trump has softened the tone in recent days, telling an interviewer that he’s not planning to fire Powell but that he needs to be replaced soon. Trump noted, however, that Powell’s term ends only in a very short period in 2026. However, uncertainty has reignited fears that the Fed is not truly independent.

The latest threats from Trump have come after periods of volatility. In one high-profile case, his social media comments sparked more than a few days of market mayhem in April.

Interest rates have remained at 4.25% to 4.50% at the central bank’s three latest meetings. Powell has repeatedly refused to bow to political influence and insisted decisions must follow macroeconomic data, not presidential preferences. Powell said in his public remarks that he has not asked for a meeting with any US president and that the central bank must remain independent.

A recent Supreme Court ruling allowing Trump to keep some of his dismissed independent agency employees off the job also had some indirect implications, some legal analysts noted. However, the court noted that the deal does not extend to the Federal Reserve, which the court called a uniquely structured body that behaved independently in the past.

Bitcoin holds strong amid political uncertainty

Bitcoin decoupled from traditional market movements as political tensions rise. Bitcoin traded above $105,000 despite Wall Street’s decline and the U.S. dollar falling to a three-year low.

CryptoQuant data suggests that the current rally is getting close to a possible short-term top. The trend remains bullish, but further political uncertainty, which could see volatility spike, may prompt profit-taking.

Trump appointed Powell in 2018, and his current term is until May 2026. While he has kept silent on Trump’s personal attacks, he has repeatedly stuck to the Fed’s familiar message of steady prices and maximum employment. He’s also said he did not ask to see any sitting president when he was in office.

Powell met the president twice during Trump’s first term—once on his birthday and again later that year. The latest meeting was the first in-person face-to-face exchange during Trump’s second term, which followed months of public pressure.

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