The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett stated that President Donald Trump is mulling the possibility of firing Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, highlighting concerns about the Fed's independence and the potential impact on global markets. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that Mr. Hassett's remarks came a day after Mr. Trump ramped up a long-simmering feud with the Fed chair, accusing Mr. Powell of "playing politics" by not cutting interest rates and asserting he had the power to evict Mr. Powell from his job "real fast." Mr. Trump doubled down on his criticism of Mr. Powell on Friday, telling reporters during an Oval Office event: "If we had a Fed chairman that understood what he was doing, interest rates would be coming down. He should bring them down." Mr. Hassett distanced himself from a 2021 book in which he argued that firing Mr. Powell during Mr. Trump's first term would have harmed the Fed's reputation and compromised the dollar's credibility, potentially crashing the stock market. Reuters says efforts to remove Mr. Powell could further roil markets already battered for weeks by Mr. Trump's erratic approach to imposing his new tariffs.