How Trump Is Sabotaging Himself on the Federal Reserve

President Donald Trump is threatening — again — to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, this time in the event that Powell doesn't step down from the Fed when his term as chair ends on May 15.

Let's play out how that might unfold.

Imagine Trump did decide to fire Powell: The early phases might go the same way as Trump's attempt to fire another Fed board member, Lisa Cook. In that case, the Supreme Court has allowed Cook to stay in her role while justices deliberate whether Trump has grounds to remove her "for cause." The president claims that she committed mortgage fraud, but that underlying allegation has not been litigated.

The ruling in that case could come any day now, but questions from the justices hinted that they would prioritize the Fed's autonomy. Trump would need an advantageous ruling to make his Powell firing work.