|

President Trump calls Fed's Powell "too late" on interest rates, formally requests rate cut

According to the White House, US President Donald Trump has formally complained about high interest rates to Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell. The Fed has adopted a firm wait-and-see approach to how the US economy will handle potential fallout from the Trump administration's whiplash trade policy approach. President Trump has steadily ramped up hostile rhetoric toward the Fed in recent weeks, culminating in a formal complaint to the head of the Fed on Monday.

Key White House highlights

  • High interest rates remain a problem.
  • Trump sent a handwritten note to Fed Chair Powell.
  • Trump calls Powell "too late".
  • Trump asks Powell to lower interest rates.

Donald Trump's new campaign against the Fed comes at a time when early tariff effects have already pushed near-term core inflation metrics slightly higher, as shown by the uptick in the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index (PCE) inflation last week. President Trump's struggle to pass his "big beautiful budget bill" is also weighing on monetary policy planning, as the budget is expected to swell US federal deficit spending, marking a complete departure from Donald Trump's campaign promises to end or outright eliminate the US budget deficit "within months."

Author

Joshua Gibson

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

More from Joshua Gibson
Share:

Editor's Picks

AUD/USD flirts with 0.7000, lowest since early August amid bullish USD

AUD/USD hits a fresh low since early August during the Asian session on Friday and looks vulnerable near 0.7000 after breaking below the 200-day SMA overnight. Against the backdrop of the hawkish Fed, a two-day rally in oil prices revives inflation fears and continues to push US bond yields to multi-year highs. Adding to this, geopolitical risks lift the US Dollar to a two-month high, overshadowing RBA rate hike bets and weighing on the pair.

USD/JPY pulls back from three-week high after failing near 159.00

USD/JPY edges lower during the Asian session on Friday, stalling its recent strong move to a three-week high of 159.00 as Japanese Yen bears turn cautious amid intervention fears. Meanwhile, the US Dollar retains a strong bullish undertone as the Fed's hawkish outlook and oil-driven inflation fears continue to push US bond yields to multi-year peaks. Furthermore, the BoJ's dovish rate hike last week might cap JPY and support spot prices.

Gold treads water below $4,300

Gold grabs some buying attention and advances marginally at the end of the week, partially retracing the weekly decline, although it is still navigating below the key $4,300 mark per troy ounce. The fresh selling bias on the Greenback and the modest decline in US Treasury yields appear to support the humble advance in the precious metal.

Week ahead: Rate hike bets face a crucial data week
Despite the solid drop from the mid-September high, oil prices remained in the driver’s seat for another week, setting the tone in financial markets. Six months have passed since the late-February start of the US-Iran conflict, and there is still no breakthrough in the stalled talks, despite pressure from regional leaders and the rest of the world.
CFTC Report: Defensive currency positioning takes hold
The week in one sentence: Sterling and Euro shorts deepened in the week to September 22, while Yen longs were cut sharply. Oil positioning improved despite a steep price decline, and Gold exposure remained crowded. The main signal was a more defensive currency positioning backdrop.
Fed vs BoJ: Both hiked. The market only believes one of them – and the chart shows which

The Fed and the BoJ have just done something remarkably similar. Both central banks raised interest rates by 25 bps last week, both are confronting inflation risks, and both signal that future decisions will depend on incoming economic data.