President Trump has been expressing dissatisfaction with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Trump reportedly blames Mnuchin for backing Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and for recent volatility in the stock market.
The president has publicly sounded off on Powell’s decision to raise federal interest rates, claiming that it’s endangering the country’s economic growth.
Trump called the Fed his “biggest threat” during an October interview and suggested that he may have made a mistake appointing Powell.
Mnuchin praised Powell in August as a “phenomenal leader,” shortly after Trump called him out.
{mosads}According to the report, Trump is also pinning the turbulent stock market on Mnuchin. The president said, “If he’s so good, why is this happening?” someone familiar with the matter told the Journal.
Trump has also reportedly contemplated to advisers about whether he should have tapped JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon in 2016 instead of Mnuchin.
White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters countered the report, telling The Hill that Trump continues to value Mnuchin’s contributions to the administration.
“President Trump appreciates Secretary Mnuchin’s service as a key member of his cabinet and reports suggesting otherwise are false,” she said. “From President Trump’s massively successful economic policies to his maximum pressure sanctions for national security, Secretary Mnuchin has been effective in carrying out the President’s agenda.”
Trump took to Twitter Friday evening to publicly deny the report, saying that he is “extremely happy and proud of the job being done by” Mnuchin.
This story was updated at 7:10pm.