WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, publicly mulling whether to fire the official and appoint himself to the central bank. The Republican leader, who regularly berates Powell over the bank's decisions not to lower interest rates, took to Truth Social on June 20 to smear the banker as a "numbskull," "moron" and "obvious Trump Hater." "I fully understand that my strong criticism of him makes it more difficult for him to do what he