FLASHBACK: Our Friend Tim ( 1950-2008)

President Donald Trump backed off a threat he has escalated for weeks on Tuesday, telling reporters he doesn't have any plans to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, according to the Wall Street Journal.

When reporters in the Oval Office asked Trump whether he plans to do so, he replied, “None whatsoever."

"Never did. The press runs away with things. No, I have no intention of firing him," Trump insisted.

The reply was a marked break from the recent past in which Trump proclaimed that Powell's "termination cannot come soon enough" and that he was a "major loser" who is "Mr. Too Late" when it comes to reducing interest rates — even accusing Powell, with no evidence or examples, of manipulating interest rates in 2024 to hurt his presidential campaign.

Trump was the president who initially appointed Powell to lead the Federal Reserve in the first place. However, he has grown enraged at Powell after the central bank head said Trump's tariffs risked price increases and could prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates as soon as Trump would wish.

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Rate cuts generally result in increased borrowing and spending and energize the economy, but can also worsen inflation during periods when prices are rising quickly. In those situations, the Fed generally raises rates, and reduces borrowing and spending, to try to force price stability, which tends to come at a cost of higher unemployment and slower growth.

Complicating any potential move to fire Powell would be the fact that no president has ever removed a Fed chair before the end of their term, and current law doesn't actually provide a legal mechanism to do so, as part of ensuring the central bank maintains its independence from politicians who might seek to manipulate rates for election season.

The Wall Street Journal's own editorial board has condemned Trump's previous threats against Powell, warning that if Trump even tried to remove him, it could send the stock market into chaos.

MSNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin mocked President Donald Trump for "blinking" under pressure and perpetuating the economic whiplash that continues to rile the markets.

Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski introduced Sorkin Wednesday, asking, "We have Trump blinking? Or, how would you describe it?"

"Oh! I think it's full blinking, lots of blinking!" Sorkin quipped while fluttering his eyelids.

He continued, "Actually, the market's up this morning. I think a lot of folks actually think that he's blinking. Whether he really will blink, we don't know. But it is a 180-degree turn, both in terms of what he's suggesting about how he's going to negotiate with China. For the last several weeks, he's been playing the role of strongman. Now, he says he wants to be nice and wants to find a compromise, which is going to be interesting to see how the Chinese react to that and will have either leverage over him or he'll have leverage over them. "

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Sorkin also mentioned Trump's "180" on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

"[Trump] had been both, you know, on Truth Social and other places, saying that he thought that the federal reserve chair should effectively get fired, was too late, should have lowered interest rates. And now he's saying, 'I'm not firing him.' And I think he suggested basically that he was never planning to fire him, which is not what he said originally."

Sorkin said investors may be regaining some confidence because they see Trump course-correcting after "realizing he can't do all the things that he wanted to."

Sorkin concluded by pointing out the unpredictability of how the Trump administration has been reacting on any given day.

"What looks like a blink today could be very different tomorrow," Sorkin said.

Watch the clip below via MSNBC or click here.