US Fed chairman's job '100 pct' safe: Trump advisor

President Donald Trump has no intention of firing the chairman of the Federal Reserve, despite his barrages of criticism against the central bank, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Wednesday.

"Yes, of course, 100 percent," Hassett said when asked on ABC television whether Fed boss Jerome Powell would keep his job.

Hassett also downplayed jitters over the economic outlook, following plummeting stock market prices.

"All the anecdotal information we're getting is that the fundamentals remain extremely sound," Hassett said, as Wall Street bounced back from its most recent losses.

Hassett said that Christmas-period shopping had been "through the roof" and that the economy was still expanding at a good pace, with "the momentum that we saw this year...carrying over to next year."
"We've all been doing that really quite a bit over the few weeks."