How will President Trump's threat to Powell affect Bitcoin?

Bitcoin (BTC) traded above $84,000 on Friday as President Donald Trump slammed Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates on time. Trump pointed to the European Central Bank (ECB) lowering rates by 25 basis points, urging Powell to do the same in the US. Additionally, Trump implied that he may be planning to remove the Fed chair, stating that Powell's "termination cannot come too fast."

Donald Trump calls out Powell for defiance to cut interest rates as Bitcoin holds still

President Donald Trump launched another attack on Jerome Powell regarding interest rates in a post on Truth Social, reemphasizing his previous comment that the Fed chairman is "always late."

The US president pointed out that Powell should have lowered interest rates like the ECB, which slashed rates by 25 basis points on Thursday. He stated that Powell "should certainly lower them now," insisting that inflation has dropped in the US.

Trump also implied that he expects Powell to be terminated from office and that it "cannot come fast enough." He further strengthened his threat at the Oval Office, stating that "if I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me," while answering the questions of reporters.

The new threats have attracted concerns from several figures on the impact that Powell's termination could have on financial markets.

Senator Elizabeth Warren stated that US markets would crash if Trump had the power to fire Powell.

"If Chairman Powell can be fired by the president of the United States, it will crash markets in the United States," Warren remarked in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange. She said the stock market and global economy are sustained because "big pieces move independent of politics."

Trump's attack on Powell didn't have much effect on the crypto market as Bitcoin stayed resilient, seeing minimal gains above the $84,000 level.

Grindery co-founder Tim Delhaes told FXStreet that markets move based on perception, not necessarily policies. He added that President Trump's recurring pressure on Powell and the ECB rate cut could cause investors to shift more capital toward gold, bonds and Bitcoin.

Douro CEO Mike Cahill added that the markets are reading this feud and the ECB's new rate cuts as a green light for policy changes.

"But rate cuts alone aren't a silver bullet, and we need to stop thinking of them that way," Cahill told FXStreet. "This is a step in the right direction, but the real focus needs to be on building better infrastructure that can support a next-gen global financial system."

While Trump's pressure may force the Fed to cut rates, Douglas Colkitt, Initial Fogo Contributor, noted that it could negatively affect the market.

"Political narratives are bleeding into rate decisions, and that only increases uncertainty. For crypto builders, it highlights the long-term need for both financial infrastructure and thoughtful regulations that don't just swing with election cycles or central bank politics," Colkitt said.

Anastasija Plotnikova, CEO of Fideum, also echoed a similar sentiment, highlighting that Trump's approach won't "add stability to the market" as he has "no authority" to fire Powell.

"Importantly, the Fed is clearly engaging and provided some clarity on its stance - inflation is still sticky and the trade war brought in some uncertainty," said Plotnikova. "I expect that we will not see a rate cut until 90 days tariff negotiations are over," she added.

The current high interest rate environment and lingering tariffs could leave Bitcoin stretching its consolidation into the next few weeks. Since Trump's tariffs announcements in February, Bitcoin has crashed nearly 18%, declining from $102,000 to $84,500 at press time. In the process, it sparked $5.12 billion outflows across US spot Bitcoin ETFs, per SoSoValue data.