United States President Donald Trump has continued to lambast Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for declining to cut interest rates, with markets sinking after his comments.
The administration is studying whether it could fire Powell, though Powell has said he will not step down from his position if asked. The Federal Reserve chair is a nonpartisan position, and according to Powell, Trump does not have the legal authority to remove him.
“‘Preemptive Cuts’ in Interest Rates are being called for by many,” said Trump on his social media network Truth Social.
“With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” Trump wrote.
The Dow Jones fell by almost 2% within in its first hour of trading on Monday amid Trump’s criticism of Powell, while the NASDAQ dropped by 2.6%.
The U.S. Dollar Index slumped to 97.92, its lowest levels since 2022.
Trump has pushed for interest rate cuts in a bid to mitigate the economic slowdown prompted by the U.S.’ introduction of tariffs on all other nations last month.
Powell said last week that these tariffs would halt its plans to maintain inflation at 2%, and said that the Federal Reserve would “wait for greater clarity” before considering cutting interest rates.
The Federal Reserve’s next meeting is in May, and is expected to hold the benchmark interest rate at its current 4.25-2.50% range.
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