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Donald Trump has called on Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to resign, after one of his top allies in government called for an investigation into the central banker over alleged wrongdoing related to home mortgages.
“Cook must resign, now!!!” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
Trump’s call for Cook to resign came hours after Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Financing Agency and a staunch ally of the president, published a letter claiming the central bank official had “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms”.
Pulte, a strong critic of the Fed and its chief Jay Powell, called on the US justice department to investigate the allegations.
The calls are the latest attack from the Trump administration on the US central bank and its staff. The president has called Powell a “numbskull and a “moron” over his refusal to comply with Trump’s wishes to aggressively cut interest rates. Trump has also sharply criticised a $2.5bn renovation of the Fed’s headquarters in Washington.
In the letter, posted on social media site X, Pulte alleged that Cook had declared in financial documents that two homes bought within months of each other would both be her primary residence. Pulte claimed one of the homes was later advertised for rent.
A spokesperson for the Fed and for Cook could not immediately be reached for comment.
This is a developing story