U.S. President Donald Trump said he would fire Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve if he does not leave that post ¡°in time,¡± and insisted that the Justice Department investigation into the central bank leader would continue.

¡°I¡¯ll have to fire him, OK, if he¡¯s not leaving on time. I¡¯ve held back firing him. I¡¯ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial,¡± Trump said in an interview with Fox Business.

¡°I want to be uncontroversial. But he will be fired,¡± he said in the interview that aired Wednesday.