President Donald Trump is seriously weighing something that no president has ever done before.
He wants to fire the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell.
Trump's been going back and forth on this.
On Wednesday, he denied that he was considering kicking Powell out.
But if he did, it's a move that has major repercussions for the US economy.
It's important because the Fed was set up to be independent of the White House and from lawmakers.
It's designed to be able to make decisions on its own based on economic data and not by politicians who are always going to want lower interest rates to juice the economy.
Andrew Ackerman is an economics reporter for The Post.
He's been following this unfolding drama between Trump and the Fed chair.
Andrew said they're butting heads on a key part of the Fed's job,
and that's whether to raise interest rates.
Trump wants them lowered, but the Fed says not so fast.
From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports.
I'm Cole Byikowitz.
It's Wednesday, July 16th.
Today, I talk with Andrew about Trump's escalating threats to the Federal Reserve.
He explains what Trump wants and why the Fed has pushed back so hard.
And later in the show,
we'll talk about why these threats are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to worries about the U.S. economy.
Andrew, hey, thanks for being here.