President Donald Trump criticized the Fed’s decision not to lower interest rates.
“Jerome Powell is a FOOL,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The Fed is waiting for greater clarity on the impact of tariffs and the trajectory of the economy.
Another Fed meeting has passed without a change in interest rates, and the president is once again displeased.
After the US central bank and Fed Chair Jerome Powell opted to keep the benchmark rate level on Wednesday, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to express dismay.
“Jerome Powell is a FOOL, who doesn’t have a clue,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to the central bank chairman. He added: “Oil and Energy way down, almost all costs (groceries and ‘eggs’) down, virtually NO INFLATION, Tariff Money Pouring Into the U.S. — THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF ‘TOO LATE!'”
Trump has heaped criticism on the Fed boss in recent months for not lowering borrowing costs, even commenting that he was looking into firing Powell before his term is up in 2026. Trump backed off from that position as markets balked but has kept up his critiques.
His latest comments follow Wednesday’s meeting, which ended with the federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.50%. Despite the president’s claims of “virtually no inflation,” Powell said above-target inflation contributed to the pause, alongside broader uncertainty over what’s to come this year amid Trump’s tariffs.
“If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they’re likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and an increase in unemployment,” Powell acknowledged during the press conference, emphasizing that rates are in a solid place to wait and see.
Rates can boost the economy, but lowering them prematurely could spur fresh inflation. Low growth combined with high inflation—a situation known as stagflation—is a worst-case scenario for central bankers because they cannot respond to both at once.
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