President Donald Trump sharply criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday after the central bank opted to keep interest rates unchanged, accusing him of inflicting massive financial harm on the country.
In a Truth Social post published a day after the Federal Reserve’s rate decision, Trump wrote, “We should have a substantially lower rate now that even this moron admits inflation is no longer a problem or threat.”
The president went on to argue that Powell’s leadership has imposed steep and unnecessary costs on the nation. “He is costing America Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year in totally unnecessary and uncalled for INTEREST EXPENSE,” Trump wrote. He added that strong tariff-driven capital inflows should allow the United States to maintain the lowest interest rates globally, stating, “Because of the vast amounts of money flowing into our Country because of Tariffs, we should be paying the LOWEST INTEREST RATE OF ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD,” and warned that Powell’s actions were undermining national security.
Although Trump originally nominated Powell to lead the Federal Reserve in 2017, his relationship with the central bank chief has steadily deteriorated. Over the past year, Trump has escalated his public pressure campaign, repeatedly demanding rate cuts and increasingly using personal attacks to voice dissatisfaction with the Fed’s monetary policy decisions.
What initially began as disagreement over interest rate strategy has now evolved into an intense standoff, creating what many view as the most difficult period of Powell’s eight-year tenure as chair, notes Fox Business.
The conflict intensified earlier this month when the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into Powell related to his congressional testimony about the Federal Reserve’s renovation projects involving its two Washington, D.C., buildings.
Powell acknowledged the investigation on Jan. 11 in a video statement, describing it as “unprecedented” and characterizing it as part of what he said were ongoing threats from Trump toward the central bank.
After consulting privately with advisors for several days, Powell chose to address the matter publicly — a notable shift from his traditionally cautious and restrained public posture.
Appearing before reporters on Wednesday for the first time since the investigation became public, Powell said he would not respond to comments from the administration and declined to discuss the probe.
