Donald Trump says Jerome Powell's decision to keep interest rates steady is costing the US, disrespecting the Fed chair.
US President Donald Trump has launched a tirade against Fed Chair Jerome Powell over his failure to cut interest rates at yesterday's FOMC meeting. Trump has labeled Powell an "American disgrace" for being too slow in his rate decisions.
Donald Trump criticized Jerome Powell for rate cuts.
As traders agreed with the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates steady, US President Donald Trump criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Trump took to Truth Social to criticize the Fed's decision, singling out Powell for condemnation.
According to Trump, Powell's decision not to cut rates is costing the US billions of dollars. Trump dismissed Powell as uninformed, adding that the rest of the board shares the decision to keep rates steady. Yesterday, the Fed announced that it would leave interest rates unchanged after June's FOMC meeting, much to the dismay of investors.
“He is truly one of the dumbest and most destructive people in Government, and the Fed Board is complicit,” said Powell.
Donald Trump argues that given the declining inflation figures, interest rates should be 2.5 points lower. He notes that the European Central Bank (ECB) has cut interest rates by ten while the US is still holding rates steady.
“We should be 2.5 points lower and save billions on all of Biden’s short-term debt,” said Trump. “We have low inflation. TOO LATE’s an American Disgrace.”
Feds blame Trump tariffs for inflation concerns
In his FOMC press conference, Jerome Powell justified the Fed’s decision not to cut interest rates. The Fed chair notes that while the inflation figures are down, the numbers are not at the recommended 2%.
They blamed Donald Trump's tariffs for curbing near-term inflation concerns as trade uncertainty grows.
However, Powell disclosed that the labor market is quite healthy and is not currently contributing to inflationary concerns.
Jerome Powell revealed that the Fed would adopt a wait-and-see approach to gauge the impact of new inflation risks.
Amid Powell’s concerns, Donald Trump is stepping up his calls for interest rate cuts. Before the start of the FOMC meeting,
Trump urged the Fed to cut interest rates, noting that the U.S. would be able to buy debt for much less. Despite Trump’s criticism, the US president says he will not fire Jerome Powell.
A day after the FOMC meeting, Bitcoin is trading at $104K in a show of resilience, while the rest of the market is reflecting BTC's price performance. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization sits at $3.2 trillion, down less than 1% from the previous day.