Donald Trump has denied threatening to demote Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve.

“I didn’t ever threaten to demote him,” the president told NBC’s Meet the Press in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Asked if he had considered such a move, Trump said: “Well, I’d be able to do that if I wanted but I haven’t suggested that.”

Trump said that was not a threat but repeated: “I have the right to do that. But I haven’t said that. What he’s done is $50bn a month in quantitative tightening. That’s ridiculous. What he’s done is he raised interest rates too fast.”

Bloomberg reported this week that Trump has grown frustrated with Powell and discussed removing him with advisers.

Such reports have surfaced before. So have questions about whether the president has the constitutional authority to fire the chair of the independent central bank, and whether he understands the issue.

On Wednesday, after a two-day Fed meeting, Powell said: “I think the law is clear that I have a four-year term, and I fully intend to serve it.”

Trump picked Powell to lead the Fed in succession to Janet Yellen. He has consistently complained about him since.

The president also attempted to place Herman Cain and Stephen Moore, political allies, on the board of the Fed. Both were beset by scandal and withdrew from the process, Moore after extensive reporting on his past behaviour by the Guardian and other outlets.

On Sunday, Trump said: “I think the economy’s so strong we’re going to bull through it. But I’m not happy with his actions. No, I don’t think he’s done a good job. I think this, if he didn’t raise rates Obama had very low rates. So Obama was playing with funny money. I wasn’t. I’m playing with the real stuff.

“Obama had somebody that kept the rates very low. I had somebody that raised the rates very rapidly. Too much. He made a mistake. That’s been proven. And yet my economy is phenomenal.”

On Wednesday, the Fed said it was ready to implement interest rate cuts as early as next month, in attempt to address growing economic risks in the US and abroad.