Trump’s fed up with Jerome Powell again

ONCE MORE INTO THE FRAY — Donald Trump has Jerome Powell in his sights again after the central bank head warned yesterday that the president’s trade war was “highly likely” to raise inflation rates. In a Truth Social post this morning, Trump called Powell’s latest report “another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’” Trump also pressured the chair to lower interest rates, adding that the Federal Reserve chair’s “termination cannot come fast enough!”

Trump’s call for Powell’s ousting comes after the markets tumbled in response to his comments yesterday that tariffs could spur price hikes and further weaken the economy. Trump’s post also came shortly after the European Central Bank lowered rates by a quarter point this morning, citing uncertainty around a potential global trade war, NYT’s Eshe Nelson reports.

The markets reacted quickly to Trump’s latest comments this morning, with the Dow sharply dropping 500 points, per CNN’s John Towfighi. “The broader S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% … Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index was down 0.37% in afternoon trading.”

So what? It’s not the first, nor likely the last, time that Trump has called to boot the Fed chair. In 2018, Powell pushed back when Trump considered firing him despite dubious legal standing, WSJ’s Nick Timiraos reports: “For Powell, the unsavory prospect of a legal showdown—one he might have to pay for out of his own pocket—was imperative to preserve the ability of future Fed chairs to serve without the threat of being removed over a policy dispute.”

Still, it’s really not that easy to unseat an independent agency head — and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly warned Trump that doing so could upend the already fragile markets, our Megan Messerly and Victoria Guida report. Federal law prevents Trump from ousting Powell at will, as Fed officials are appointed to 14-year terms and can only be removed “for cause.”

But but but … Trump is already embroiled in Supreme Court battles arguing he should be able to fire the heads of other independent agencies like the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board. It’s not clear whether that imminent ruling could apply to the Fed.

Meanwhile, White House allies view Trump’s post as “less as an attempt to immediately oust Powell and more as an effort to throw the Fed chair off balance and position him as a future scapegoat for the country’s economic woes,” Megan and Victoria write.

PROMISES, PROMISES — As the world teeters on uncertainty under the weight of Trump’s trade war, the president confirmed he “fully expects” to strike a trade deal with the European Union before his 90-day pause on more tariffs ends. Speaking to reporters before his meeting with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni today, Trump said, “There’ll be a trade deal, 100 percent … They want to make one very much and we are going to make a trade deal, I fully expect it, but it will be a fair deal.”

Meloni is the first EU leader to attend in-person negotiations since Trump implemented, then paused, higher tariffs on European goods. Before their closed-door meeting, Trump said he liked Meloni “very much,” describing the PM with ties to Italy’s far-right as “one of the real leaders of the world.” Meloni added that while she couldn’t negotiate on behalf of the entire EU coalition, she suggested that candid conversation would lead to an agreement: “I think the best way is that we simply speak frankly about the needs that every one of us has.” Optimism aside, there has been no indication the White House is closer to a deal with any world leader than before the pause. More per POLITICO’s Eli Stokols

Good Thursday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at [email protected].

A message from PhRMA:

Chances are your insurer and PBM are owned by the same big health care company. They also own big chain pharmacies – and are even buying doctors’ offices. When middlemen own it all, you lose. It’s time to protect patients and rein in the middlemen. See how.

NOT GOING ANYWHERE — Even with chaotic tariff rollout, the chances Trump ousts Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick from his cabinet are very slim. POLITICO’s Capitol bureau chief and senior Washington columnist Rachael Bade joins our own Jack Blanchard to discuss Trump and Lutnick’s storied friendship in Playbook’s Daily Briefing. Watch the full conversation here

1. FEAR IN THE LAST FRONTIER: In a candid speech, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the quiet part out loud for lawmakers feeling the weight of tumultuous changes across Washington, Anchorage Daily News’ Zachariah Hughes reports. “We are all afraid,” Murkowski told a gathering of nonprofit and tribal leaders. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”

Though the eye-opening conversation took place earlier this week, video of the exchange made the rounds online today. Murkowski didn’tmention Trump by name in the taped remarks, but she recounted stories of Alaskans affected by the White House’s sweeping cuts and policy changes: “It is as hard as anything I have been engaged in, in the 20-plus years I’ve been in the Senate,” Murkowski said.

A long-time Trump critic, Murkowski isn’t up for reelection until 2028, but “said last month that she would not be cowed into compliance despite threats of being primaried, even if Musk should pour millions into backing a possible challenger,” POLITICO’s Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing reports.

2. DEEP IN THE HEART: After decades of debate in the Lone Star State, the Texas House approved a proposal this morning that would dole out a historic $1 billion for a private school voucher program in the state. Though both state chambers still have to reconcile their versions of the proposal, the Texas House approval marks a major political victory for Gov. Greg Abbott, and is the “first time since 1957 that the Texas House has approved legislation making state money available for families to use on their children’s private schooling,” The Texas Tribune’s Jaden Edison and Jasper Scherer report. The voucher debate has long divided Texas, especially over its impact on low-income and rural districts. Opponents of the measure argue that “taxpayer-funded vouchers would drain resources from public education and leave children with the fewest resources stuck in underfunded public schools of last resort,” per NYT.

The 30,000-foot view: The Texas school voucher plan has become a proxy for Trump’s broader push to expand school choice across the country. The president personally called lawmakers yesterday to praise their “really forward-thinking vote.” After it passed, Trump congratulated the Texas governor on Truth Social for the “gigantic Victory for students and parents in the Great State of Texas!,” adding “We will very soon be sending Education BACK TO ALL THE STATES, where it belongs.”

3. ANTI-TRUST THE PROCESS: U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled today that Google illegally monopolized two markets in online advertising technology, further fueling the Justice Department’s efforts to break up the tech company’s widespread advertising products, Reuters’ Jody Godoy reports. The trillion dollar tech giant was facing a suit from the federal government for allegedly “eliminating competitors through acquisitions, locking customers into using its products, and controlling how transactions occurred in the online ad market.”

So what’s next? “Google now faces the possibility of two U.S. courts ordering it to sell assets or change its business practices. A judge in Washington will hold a trial next week on the DOJ’s request to make Google sell its Chrome browser and take other measures to end its dominance in online search,” Godoy reports.

Adding to Google’s troubles: Today’s ruling comes as “Google has increasingly faced a reckoning” across Washington over its online business tactics and dominant products, NYT’s David McCabe writes. The company is also facing scrutiny on Capitol Hill as GOP lawmakers attack its content policies as discriminatory to conservatives. More from POLITICO’s Brendan Bordelon

4. HOMEWARD BOUND: Trump’s ongoing efforts to shrink the federal government has reached a market he’s all too familiar with: real estate. The White House is considering a mass overhaul of federal rental assistance programs in its spring budget proposal to Congress, NYT’s Tony Romm reports. The potential cuts could translate to less aid for the roughly 2.3 million low-income families who currently receive vouchers through an already overburdened public housing agency. Details of the retooling are still unclear, though discussions include canceling vouchers altogether and “potentially replacing them with a more limited system of housing grants, perhaps sent to states.”

5. MUSK READ: Trump’s trade war is closing in on Elon Musk’s grand plans to develop a fleet of self-driving cars and humanoid robots, POLITICO’s Christine Mui and Alex Nieves report. Musk’s vocal opposition to Trump’s tariffs has created something of an “an awkward alliance” between the tech billionaire and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has filed a suit against Trump over the tariff battle.

China continues to dominate the market on the production of humanoid robots. As Trump’s “trade war continues to escalate, Musk is uniquely exposed as a target for retaliatory measures that could box him out of key markets before he’s had the chance to establish a presence,” they write. However, experts note “Musk’s bigger worry should be whether the tariffs will hurt demand for Teslas in China, its second-biggest market.”

Chuck Schumer is calling for a federal hate crime investigation into the recent arson attack on Josh Shapiro’s residence.

Retired lawmakers from the 118th Congress “are happy to put Congress in the rearview,” per NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson.

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — DOGE cuts are even influencing dating in D.C., per Axios’ Mimi Montgomery: “[T]here’s a new description appearing on dating app bios, D.C. singles tell Axios: ‘Laid off by DOGE.’” They’re being upfront that due to their unemployment, they’re “therefore looking to go on no-cost or inexpensive dates.”

TRANSITION — Quint Forgey is now an account director at Marathon Strategies. He previously was deputy campaign manager and comms director for Kathryn Harvey’s congressional campaign.

WEDDING — Heather Fischer, senior adviser for social impact at Thomson Reuters and a Trump White House alum, and David Panton, chairman of Panton Equity Partners, got married last night in Negril, Jamaica. Pic

Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.

A message from PhRMA: