Trump met with Jerome Powell today to scold him about rates. Powell stressed the Fed is staying out of politics

President Donald Trump on Thursday met with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for the first time in his second term, scolding him for not lowering borrowing costs. Powell maintained that any decisions won’t be based on the president’s demands.

President Donald Trump on Thursday met with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for the first time in his second term, scolding him for not lowering borrowing costs. Powell maintained that any decisions won’t be based on the president’s demands. The meeting, which comes after months of unrelenting attacks from Trump against the Fed chief, took place at the White House and was at Trump’s request. “Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook,” the Fed said in its statement. Trump has described Powell as a “fool” and “a major loser,” while also saying that the Fed chief’s termination “cannot come fast enough.” His harsh criticism of Powell is mostly centered on the central bank not lowering interest rates quickly enough for his own liking. In a Thursday afternoon briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the two had met, adding: “The president did say that he believes the Fed chair is making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, which is putting us at an economic disadvantage to China and other countries, and the president has been very vocal about that, both publicly, and now, I can reveal, privately as well.” Trump appointed Powell to helm the US central bank starting in 2018, with his term ending in May 2026. Powell has stayed mum amid Trump’s attacks, stressing that the Fed’s decisions are all rooted in economic data in striving for the central bank’s dual goals of stable prices and maximum employment.