President-elect Donald Trump has sent mixed signals for years on whether he would aim to fire or demote Fed Chair Jerome Powell when he re-enters the Oval Office next year.

But Powell himself laid down a marker Thursday that he won’t be going anywhere, even if Trump tried.

"Not permitted under the law," the central banker chair said Thursday in curt but clear responses to reporters who asked about his views on any legal authorities Trump might have in terms of firing or demoting him or any other top Fed officials.

"No," he said at another point on the question of whether he would leave.

It could be a point of conflict in the months ahead. Trump has signaled he may not be inclined to fire Powell but has also maintained he has that power.

For his part, Trump reiterated the idea of firing Powell in a 2020 news conference when he bluntly said, "I have the right to remove" Powell.

He added that he could also demote Powell from his position as chair, "put him in a regular position, and put somebody else in charge."

It’s an unsettled legal question though, with many experts falling on Powell's side of the argument.

The comments from Powell come amid massive uncertainty for the central bank following the decisive win for Trump on Tuesday night.

During his first term, then-President Trump attacked Powell with regularity (even though it was Trump who had elevated him to his current role) and openly pushed for the actions he wanted, even once suggesting negative interest rates.

Esther George, the former president of the Kansas City Fed, also weighed in on possible implications of Trump in a Yahoo Finance Live appearance on Thursday afternoon.

"It could be unsettling to markets," she said about possible Trump meddling in monetary policy.

She added that the years ahead "will require the Fed to stand up to pressures that it may receive, whether they're simply rhetoric or they are more direct threats. But I think the Fed is well prepared and able to focus on where its mandate lands."

On the campaign trail, Trump has sent decidedly mixed signals about how far he might go to upend central bank independence.

He has talked for years about what he sees as his authority to fire Powell but he’s also downplayed the notion this summer "especially if I thought he was doing the right thing."

That’s a message that appears to be continuing, with CNN reporting Thursday that a senior adviser to the President-elect said he would be likely to "allow" Powell to serve the remainder of his term.