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President Donald Trump is firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook after she refused to step down, despite the president’s claims to the contrary. The spat, which has been going on for days, could lead to a constitutional showdown over the scope of the president’s power.

On Thursday, the president posted a letter addressed to Cook on Truth Social that he was “removing you from office as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System effective immediately,” according to Fox News.

The letter was sent five days after Trump first demanded Cook’s resignation on Truth Social, in which he claimed his power from the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which states that the president can remove governors from the Federal Reserve’s Board “for cause.”

In his letter, Trump claimed there was “sufficient reason to believe that you made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.”

“I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office,” he wrote.

The mortgage allegations come from Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte accused Cook of claiming two primary residences in Ann Arbor and Atlanta, Georgia, both of which she claimed as primary residences to get lower mortgage payments in 2021.

In an interview with Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria,” Pulte, a construction executive, provided the context for the allegations.

“It’s very odd to see people try to twist back way sideways and upside down to justify mortgage fraud,” he said. “This is a very serious crime. Mortgage fraud carries up to 30 years in prison. I believe the president has ample cause to fire Lisa Cook. Whether he wants to do that or not is entirely up to the president. However, we will go where mortgage fraud is. If mortgage fraud is with Republicans or Democrats, it doesn’t matter if you commit mortgage fraud in President Trump’s America; we’re going to come after you. And Lisa Cook is no exception to that.”

Pulte had submitted a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Aug. 15, accusing Cook of lying to the bank, including about property records.

Cook, who Biden appointed to the Federal Reserve Board in 2022, pushed back against the move in a statement shared with Fox News Digital, arguing that Trump had no legal right to remove her.

“President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so. I will not resign. I will continue to carry out my duties to help the American economy as I have been doing since 2022,” Cook said in a statement.

Cook is being represented by Abbe Lowell, who has previously represented Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and daughter Ivanka Trump. The attorney did not mince words in his response to Trump’s letter, which he called a “social media threat.”

“President Trump has taken to social media to once again ‘fire by tweet,’ and once again his reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action,” Lowell said in a statement.

Cook is represented by Abbe Lowell, a well-known attorney whose clients have included Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Lowell was unequivocal in his response to Trump’s letter. “President Trump has taken to social media to once again ‘fire by tweet,’ and once again his reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis, or legal authority. We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action,” Lowell said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

FOX Business reached out to the Federal Reserve for comment, but officials did not immediately respond.