Trump calls on Fed Governor Cook to resign

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign, citing a call by the head of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency urging the Department of Justice to probe Cook over alleged mortgage fraud.

Spokespersons for the Fed and for Cook were not immediately available to respond to a request for comment.

"Cook must resign, now!!!" Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform in his latest comments aimed at reshaping the make-up of the U.S. central bank.

FHFA Director Bill Pulte made the allegations in a post on X earlier on Wednesday, saying Cook had designated a condo in Atlanta as her primary residence after taking a loan on her home in Michigan, which she also declared as a primary residence.

Pulte also posted a part of his letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi saying FHFA had obtained Cook's mortgage documents, and citing the two loans from June and July 2021.

"She needs to quit because what she did is grounds for firing," he wrote in a separate post.

Trump has repeatedly blasted the Fed and its Chair Jerome Powell over benchmark rates and called for major rate cuts. He's also repeatedly flirted with ousting Powell as he seeks to reshape the monetary policy body.

Earlier this month he named Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the rest of the term that opened from Governor Adriana Kugler's unexpected exit.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Andrea Ricci)