Pres. Trump lashes out at Fed Chair Powell

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Donald Trump lashed out at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in the Oval Office on Thursday, criticizing him for not cutting interest rates.

During an Oval Office meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the president said Powell is “playing politics” and said he wants interest rates to be lowered now.

“They should be coming down, in Europe. As you know, they reduced them, I guess seven times. It looks like they’re going to reduce them again and again and again. But our guy wants to play cute,” said the president.

The president’s comments came after Powell said that the fed would wait on interest rate changes and spoke about the impacts of the Trump tariffs.

“The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” he said.

Trump then wrote in an early morning post on Truth Social that “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”

The federal reserve is politically independent. Powell has said he intends to continue to serve out his term and insists that the president does not have the authority to fire him.

Yet, Trump still suggested that he will take action against Powell on Thursday.

“I’m not happy with him. I let him know it, and, if I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast. Believe me,” said the president.

Powell’s term ends in May 2026.

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