'This is a very big deal': Internet stunned by massive Trump move with 'no real precedent'
President Donald Trump’s unprecedented announcement late Monday that he would be firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook “effective immediately” sparked a wave of backlash Monday night and into Tuesday morning, with some critics declaring the announcement to have potentially devastating effects on the U.S. economy.
“Markets run on trust,” Tom Steyer, former hedge fund manager and Democratic presidential candidate, wrote Monday night in a social media post on X. “Firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook for political reasons torpedoes the credibility of the Fed, and America's economy. Mark my words: the destruction of Fed independence = higher inflation. Americans are going to suffer.”
Trump made the announcement of his intention to fire Cook Monday over allegations that the Federal Reserve governor had committed mortgage fraud, claims that have yet to be litigated or proven in court. Cook responded with defiance, shortly thereafter declaring her intention to remain on the Federal Reserve despite Trump’s announcement.
“No real precedent for this, ton of questions about the ‘for cause’ threshold/it’s ambiguity and the fact the allegations/referral underpinning this action are still…allegations,” wrote CNN’s Phil Mattingly Monday night on X. “This is, to be blunt, a very big deal and a dramatic escalation of a long-running pressure campaign. Legality/lack of precedent/path forward, but also huge implications for independence & operational control of (the) central bank.”
Trump has long feuded with the Federal Reserve over its refusal to cut interest rates. If Cook were ultimately removed, Trump appointees would hold a majority on the Board, a shift that could strengthen his campaign to pressure the body into cutting rates.
The impact of such an unprecedented move, however, with no president in history having fired a member of the Federal Reserve Board, could spell disaster for the economy, some warned, including Brian Krassenstein, a prominent social media personality that often advocates for the Democratic Party.
“Cook is the first woman African American Fed Governor to ever serve,” Krassenstein wrote Monday on X. “He claims she committed mortgage fraud although she has never been charged, much less convicted of such. This is a great way to kill confidence in the U.S. Dollar.”
Democratic Party leadership also fired back at the announcement, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) labeling Trump as the one guilty of “potentially criminal conduct.”
“Dr. Lisa Cook is the first Black woman ever to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors,” Jeffries said in a statement released Monday on X.
“Donald Trump is trying to remove her without a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong. To the extent anyone is unfit to serve in a position of responsibility because of deceitful and potentially criminal conduct, it is the current occupant of the White House. The American people are not buying your phony projection and slander of a distinguished public servant.”
The impact of the potential firing could be so severe, argued Ashley Schapitl, former Senate staffer and deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Treasury, that Americans' retirements could be impacted across the board.
"It's going to be really important to connect an attempted firing of a Federal Reserve governor to peoples' personal finances and the stability of the U.S. economy and markets," Schapitl wrote late Monday on X. "Making this about one person and process does not convey the gravity for a person's 401k etc."
Pres. Trump’s termination letter to Fed Gov. Lisa Cook
No real precedent for this, ton of questions about the “for cause” threshold/it’s ambiguity and the fact the allegations/referral underpinning this action are still…allegations pic.twitter.com/0jx7oPawEI
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) August 26, 2025