U.S. President Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday, again calling for an immediate interest rate cut while criticizing Federal Reserve Chairman Powell further.
Trump referred to Powell as "Mr. Too Late" in a social media statement, claiming that the Federal Reserve chairman has been consistently lagging in monetary policy decisions, causing "untold damage."
He also mentioned that he is "considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell," related to what he described as mismanagement of the Federal Reserve's construction project. The spot gold market rose by $16 in response to the news, reaching $3,350 per ounce, then quickly fell back, approaching $3,330 per ounce.
Trump stated in a post that the Federal Reserve's construction project cost $3 billion, whereas the renovation should have only required $50 million.
Last month, in front of the media, Trump and Powell disagreed over the estimated costs of renovations. Trump stated that the project was estimated to cost $3.1 billion. Powell immediately rebutted this estimate, saying, "I haven't heard anyone say that." He said Trump was also accounting for the costs of the third government building, which "was built five years ago."
iRRA has performed strongly enough to have already "overcome Powell and the complacent committee."
Since returning to the White House in 2025 to start his second term, Trump has frequently attacked Powell, including public humiliation and institutional pressure, with the significant violations in the renovation project at the Federal Reserve headquarters and the controversy over luxurious renovations being used by Trump as a breakthrough to remove Powell. Although Powell clarified the project had undergone strict scrutiny since 2017 in a letter on July 17, Trump still insisted that "renovation issues constitute grounds for dismissal."
Trump has repeatedly hinted at having the authority to fire Powell, although the legal community generally believes that the president can only dismiss the Federal Reserve chairman "for cause." On July 16, he was even reported to have drafted a dismissal letter, later denying it but leaving open the possibility by stating, "I do not rule out any possibility."
(The Wall Street Journal) and other media pointed out that Trump's attacks are essentially an attempt to force the Federal Reserve to cut rates in line with his tariff policy and shift economic responsibility. Powell had previously claimed that clarity was needed on the impact of tariffs on inflation.
Earlier on Tuesday, the highly anticipated U.S. July CPI report was mixed, with the overall CPI year-on-year growth rate falling short of expectations, but the indicators measuring underlying inflation showed prices growing at the fastest annual rate in five months, indicating that businesses are passing on tariff-related costs to consumers. Nevertheless, analysts generally believe that this increase may not be enough to prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates at its next meeting in September.
Trump reiterated on Tuesday that tariffs have not led to inflation, and consumers have not even paid these tariffs. He wrote, "Tariffs have brought trillions of dollars in revenue to our country, which is incredibly good news for our nation, the stock market, overall wealth, and almost every aspect. It turns out that even at this late stage, tariffs have not triggered inflation or caused any other problems for the country; the only effect is a massive influx of cash into our Treasury. Moreover, the data shows that in most cases, consumers do not bear the tariffs, but rather companies and governments do, many of which are foreign governments and businesses footing the bill."
Trump also criticized Wall Street's top investment banks for their pessimistic forecasts regarding the potential impact of tariffs. He accused Goldman Sachs CEO Solomon of refusing to acknowledge these facts. "They made wrong predictions about the market impact and the tariffs themselves a long time ago, and it turned out they were wrong, just like they were wrong on many other things. I think David should find a new economist or just focus on being a DJ and stop worrying about managing a large financial institution," Trump said.
Additionally, Trump's recently nominated Federal Reserve Board member Milan expressed that he is pleased to see inflation "performing well," expecting future inflation to remain favorable.
