President Donald Trump has allegedly thought about firing his Treasury Secretary, according to a source familiar with the President’s thinking.
Bloomberg News reports that Steven Mnuchin’s unsuccessful struggle to assuage investors unnerved by turmoil in Washington has made him a target of the President’s anger.
Mnuchin held a meeting Monday with top U.S. regulators to alleviate their concerns about reports President Trump had considered firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over the market’s performance.
However, it seems now that Mnuchin has drawn the President’s ire and that his future in the administration largely depends on how markets behave. If they continue to drop, the treasury secretary may very well lose his job.
President Trump has seen the stock market as evidence of the success of his presidency ever since he first took office. But the recent political turmoil, especially the U.S.-China trade war, has led to the market’s fall and to gains being erased.
Following Mnuchin’s call with six bank executives on Sunday and his meeting with U.S. regulators the day after, stocks didn’t stop their plunge and the day ended with benchmark S&P 500 down 2.7 percent, the lowest in 20 months. According to some, Mnuchin may be the scapegoat who will get fired for such developments.
“There are plenty of people inside the White House who are not fans of Mnuchin who are happy to throw him under the bus,” said Stephen Myrow, a former Treasury official. “Up ’til now, he’s been protected by the fact that Trump liked him and he’s been a loyalist.”
Trump denied discussing firing Mnuchin, saying the fake news media was citing “jealous people,” and added that he was very happy with the work done by his Treasury secretary.
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