Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in an interview aired Sunday that he does not think he can be fired by President Donald Trump.

While continuing to avoid direct comment on the president's withering criticism of central bank interest rate policy, Powell told CBS' "60 Minutes" that Trump can't remove him from office.

"The law is clear that I have a four-year term, and I fully intend to serve it," Powell told the news magazine show. Asked directly if he thought Trump could fire him, he said, "no."

A series of interest rate hikes in 2018 drew the president's wrath, even though he nominated Powell to the Fed position after choosing not to put up former Chair Janet Yellen for a second term. The Fed under Powell unanimously approved four rate hikes in 2018, continuing a move toward policy normalization that Yellen began in December 2015. Trump has said the rate hikes are the biggest threat to U.S. growth.

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