Trump to Powell: It’s a ‘mistake’ to not lower interest rates

President Donald Trump met Thursday with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the White House to discuss economic developments, as Trump continues to press the Fed to lower interest rates.

During the meeting, Trump told Powell he’s making “a mistake” by not lowering interest rates, the White House said Thursday. The meeting was at Trump’s invitation, the Fed confirmed, and marked their first face-to-face meeting of Trump’s second nonconsecutive term.

The Fed released a statement Thursday afternoon in which it said that 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.”

Powell said in the Fed’s statement that “he and his colleagues on the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) will set monetary policy, as required by law, to support maximum employment and stable prices and will make those decisions based solely on careful, objective and non-political analysis.”

Trump has repeatedly used his Truth Social outlet to urge Powell and the Fed to cut interest rates. The FOMC hasn’t issued any cuts since December, shortly before Trump’s term began.

According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The president and I both saw the statement that the Fed put out after the meeting. That statement is correct. However, 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.”

When Leavitt was asked whether Trump considered removing Powell as Fed chair, she said no, despite multiple news reports that Trump has sought to do so.

Last week, the Supreme Court allowed Trump to fire members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and another independent agency. But the justices said the ruling doesn’t extend to the Fed, whose board is shielded by Congress, meaning that Powell’s position is safe unless he is removed for cause.