Don’t do it,” Powell said at his regular press conference following the latest Fed monetary policy meeting. Powell gave little guidance about what’s next for interest rate policy as markets look to the prospect of a June rate cut. Betting markets are eyeing BlackRock’s chief bond investment manager Rick Rieder as the leading contender to be Fed chair. In his attempts to increase his influence at the Fed, Trump has gone so far as to try to fire Governor Lisa Cook for alleged misstatements on mortgage applications before she was nominated to the Fed. Powell on Wednesday countered it would have been hard to explain why as Fed chair he would not attend.