Trump Tells Reporters He’ll Fire Fed’s Lisa Cook If She Doesn’t Resign

President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he intends to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook if she does not resign from her position.

“What she did was bad,” the president told reporters who asked about Cook, according to reporting from CNBC and Bloomberg News.

Cook, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, has come under fire from the Trump administration over mortgage fraud allegations.

“So I’ll fire her if she doesn’t resign,” he said during an impromptu visit to The People’s House, a museum within the White House.

On Wednesday, Trump urged Cook to resign after Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte accused her of committing mortgage fraud by falsifying loan applications to obtain better terms.

Pulte sent a letter dated Aug. 15 to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Justice official Ed Martin, urging her to investigate whether Cook committed mortgage fraud by signing two primary residence agreements just weeks apart in 2021.

The letter alleges that Cook obtained a $203,000 mortgage in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on June 18, 2021, and less than two weeks later closed on a $540,000 loan in Georgia. Both loans required Cook to occupy the home as her primary residence for at least one year.

Pulte alleges Cook later listed the Georgia property for rent, raising questions about whether the loans were used under false pretenses.

Pulte later posted the official referral letter on social media platform X, along with several other posts calling for Cook’s resignation. Cook later pushed back, saying she would not be pressured into stepping down.

On Friday morning, Pulte shared several documents on X regarding Cook’s mortgage and rental transactions.

“We have obtained a document Lisa Cook submitted to the U.S. Government while serving as Federal Reserve Governor. In it, on February 28, 2023, she represents to the U.S. Government that the Atlanta Property is her PERSONAL RESIDENCE,” Pulte wrote. “However, Lisa Cook, as a then-sitting Fed Governor and six months earlier, on September 1, 2022, appears to have listed that same property for RENT.”