NEW YORK (Reuters) -Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams declined on Wednesday to comment on President Donald Trump's attacks on the central bank and what it might mean if the president were to somehow remove the Fed's leader from office.

"I can't comment" on what the president has said and how markets reacted, Williams told reporters. He was commenting on reports from earlier in the day that suggested Trump was close to firing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, even as the president later said that was not something he was planning to do.

Williams reiterated that an independent central bank delivers better results and noted that in his experience Fed officials and staff maintain a "laser like" focus on the central bank's mission.

Williams also told reporters that amid a drop in the dollar's value, its status as the preeminent reserve currency remains unchanged.  "There are a lot of fundamental factors that support the role of the dollar ... in global trade and in global financial markets, and that I see is unchanged now."

(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; editing by Diane Craft)

By Michael S. Derby