US stocks tumbled as President Donald Trump continued to verbally attack Jerome Powell, calling on the Federal Reserve chair to cut rates as signs mount the president’s trade war is pushing the economy toward recession. The dollar fell with long-dated Treasuries.

The S&P 500 Index fell 2.1% at 10:35 a.m. in New York, while the Nasdaq 100 Index was down almost 2.5%. Trump posted on his social media site that he favors “preemptive cuts” to interest rates and called the Fed chairman a “loser.” The broadsides started last week and raise the question of whether the central bank can retain the independence from political influence that helps underpin faith in the American financial markets.