Trump lashes out at a favorite nemesis: The Federal Reserve
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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump picked right up where he left off during his first term, badgering a favorite nemesis—the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell—over its recent performance managing inflation and interest rates. “Because Jay Powell and the Fed failed to stop the problem they created with inflation, I will do it," Trump said in a post on his social-media platform on Wednesday.
Trump issued his latest statement about an hour after Powell concluded a news conference in which he signaled the Fed was comfortable with a new wait-and-see posture on interest-rate cuts. The central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point at the last three meetings of 2024, after inflation slowed considerably over the past two years. At the news conference, Powell leaned heavily on the keep-your-head-down demeanor he honed during his first rodeo with Trump seven years ago.
Powell sidestepped multiple questions that could have provoked a collision with Trump. “I’m not going to have any response or comment whatsoever to what the president said. It’s not appropriate for me to do so," Powell said Wednesday.
Powell said the Fed makes its rate decisions guided by impartial analysis of economic data. “That’s always what we’re going to do, and people should have confidence in that," he said. Trump named Powell to lead the Fed starting in 2018 and former President Joe Biden reappointed him to a second four-year term that started in 2022.
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