If President Donald Trump takes the unprecedented step of trying to fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, the effort would roil markets and likely be met with pushback in the courts. Trump and the Trump administration have increasingly turned their fire on Powell and his leadership of the central bank.

If President Donald Trump tries to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, it would almost certainly set off a courtroom battle that legal and policy experts say is bound to get messy, with uncertain impacts on the central bank, financial markets and the economy.