President Donald Trump joked Wednesday about firing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent if interest rates don’t go down, urging him to “get it fixed fast.”

Trump’s remarks, made during a speech at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, came as he launched more criticism at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the United States’ central bank not lowering interest rates to his liking, despite inflation threats posed by the president’s tariffs.

“You’ve got to work on him, Scott. The only thing Scott’s blowing it on is the Fed, because the Fed ― the rates are too high, Scott. And if you don’t get it fixed fast, I’m gonna fire your ass, OK?” Trump said to laughs from the crowd.

Bessent has no control over interest rates, as the Federal Reserve is a politically independent agency. And though the president lacks the legal authority to fire the Federal Reserve chair, he’s repeatedly called for Powell’s ouster.

“He’s got some real mental problems,” Trump complained about Powell at Wednesday’s forum. “There’s something wrong with him. I’ll be honest, I’d love to fire his ass. He should be fired. Guy’s grossly incompetent.”

Trump added that Bessent has urged him to drop talk of firing Powell, whose term ends in May.

“Don’t fire him. Sir, please don’t fire him ― he’s got three months to go,” Trump mimicked Bessent.

“He’s the voice of reason,” Trump complimented him, telling the crowd, “You’re very lucky you have him, I’ll tell you that. He’s done a good job.”

Trump first nominated Powell as chair of the Fed in 2017, but within a matter of months, the president grew openly frustrated with him for increasing interest rates, blaming him for a decline in the stock market and unsuccessfully pressuring him to resign. When former President Joe Biden took over the White House, he nominated him for a second term that would bleed well into Trump’s second presidency.

There is some internal conflict in the Fed over whether to cut interest rates, which the agency sets based on inflation and economic growth. Minutes from the Fed’s October meeting released Wednesday show that its officials “expressed strongly differing views about what policy decision would most likely be appropriate” in the last few months of the year.

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