Trump: Fed chief's removal can't come soon enough

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump said on Thursday that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's termination "cannot come fast enough," while calling for the US central bank to cut interest rates, the sort of pressure that Powell just a day before had pledged to resist as the Fed grapples with an outlook complicated by Trump's own policies.

- HOWARD SCHNEIDER

Trump, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, reiterated his stance on rate cuts, saying that Powell "should have lowered interest rates, like the (European Central Bank), long ago, but he should certainly lower them now."

The ECB cut its key rate a quarter of a point on Thursday in response to a growth outlook that had "deteriorated owing to trade tensions" in the wake of Trump's efforts to raise US import taxes, while euro-area inflation is expected to continue falling.