Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he wouldn't resign if President Donald Trump asked him to do so, addressing months of criticism from the White House about the central bank's decisions to raise interest rates.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the Federal Reserve interest rate increases under Powell and last month privately discussed firing Powell following the central bank's most recent rate hike. Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, later said that the president knows “now” that he cannot fire the Fed chair unless it's for cause.

Powell, speaking Friday at an American Economic Association meeting in Atlanta, deflected a question about whether he would meet with Trump, something the White House said both Powell and Trump want to do. “Meetings between presidents and Fed chairs do happen,” Powell said. “Nothing has been scheduled, and I don't really have anything to report on that.”