The president waved a copy of a draft letter firing Jerome H. Powell at a meeting in the Oval Office with House Republicans. It remains to be seen whether he follows through with his threat.

President Donald J. Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the White House in 2017.

President Trump showed off a draft of a letter firing the chair of Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, during a meeting with roughly a dozen House Republicans on Tuesday night, polling them as to whether he should do it and indicating that he likely would, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

The meeting in the Oval Office was on an unrelated topic — the House members’ apprehensions about a crypto-related piece of potential legislation. But Mr. Trump used the meeting to discuss what has become one of his favorite topics: his hatred of Mr. Powell, whom he elevated to chair in 2017, during his first presidency.

It remains to be seen whether Mr. Trump will actually go ahead with trying to fire Mr. Powell, a move that some in his administration have cautioned could be calamitous and have far more expansive fallout than the president appears to anticipate.

The president has in recent weeks called on Mr. Powell to resign, saying he has not done enough to lower interest rates. But as recently as Friday Mr. Trump said he had no plans to fire Mr. Powell, despite saying the Fed chair was doing a “terrible job.”

Some advisers to and allies of Mr. Trump insist he’s simply trolling Mr. Powell and hoping to torment the Fed chair but won’t actually follow through with trying to fire him.

But the existence of the letter — and Mr. Trump’s interest in discussing it — suggests that the president is engaging in the type of moves that he often does ahead of ultimately making a major decision.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, posted on the social media website X while the meeting was going on that, “Jerome Powell is going to be fired. Firing is imminent.”

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Ms. Paulina Luna did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

One person close to Mr. Trump said that despite that social media post, no move by the president is imminent and that Mr. Trump — as he often does — could pull back and simply be content to unleash attacks on Mr. Powell through his allies and administration officials.

CBS news previously reported that Mr. Trump has asked House lawmakers if he should fire Mr. Powell.

Mr. Trump has been increasing his angry rhetoric around Mr. Powell — whom he attacks for not cutting interest rates while overseas counterparts have done so — for the past several days. He has seized on renovations that are underway at the Fed to refurbish a nearly 100-year-old building that will eventually house most of the central bank’s staff.

The project, which has been ongoing since 2021, has been scaled back because of swelling costs. The renovations are estimated to cost more than $2 billion once completed and are already tracking $700 million over budget.

But Mr. Trump’s focus on firing Mr. Powell — something he’s previously said publicly he won’t do — has come as he is trying desperately to move past anger from his own supporters at his administration’s refusal to disclose more about what is in files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and sex trafficker.

Mr. Trump’s attacks on the Fed have primarily been directed at Mr. Powell, who he has branded a “major loser,” a “numbskull” and a “stubborn mule,” among a range of other insults. He has also floated naming Mr. Powell’s successor much earlier than typically is the case in a bid to further undermine the chair.

Trying to fire Mr. Powell would be a major escalation in the administration’s campaign against the Fed chair, who has so far rebuffed Mr. Trump’s demands to significantly lower interest rates. Mr. Powell’s term as chair officially ends in May, but is able to stay on as a member of the Board of Governors until 2028 if he chooses to.

Presidents are unable to remove officials at the Fed without cause, a protection that was bolstered by the Supreme Court in a ruling in May regarding Mr. Trump’s ability to unseat certain members of government agencies stipulated as independent by Congress.

Cause has typically meant malfeasance or gross misconduct, rather than a disagreement on the direction of monetary policy. No president has attempted to fire a Fed chair in modern history.