The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced it will not lower interest rates, refusing once again to obey President Trump’s persistent demands to do so.
In explaining the decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed to Trump’s tariffs and their impact on the economy.
“Increased tariffs are pushing up prices in some categories of goods,” he said. “Near-term measures of inflation expectations have moved up on balance over the course of this year on news about tariffs.”
The decision is sure to upset the president, who has long called on the Fed to lower interest rates.
“We have a man who just refuses to lower the Fed rate,” Trump said last month, in one of his many attacks on Powell, a constant nemesis of his. “Maybe I should go to the Fed. Am I allowed to appoint myself? I’d do a much better job than these people.”
Trump has spent five straight meetings demanding interest rates be lowered, which suggests some insecurity about the future state of the economy on his part, especially as economists wait for the full scope of his trade war to reveal itself.
Two Trump-appointed Fed governors, Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller, dissented from Powell’s decision on Wednesday, likely attempting to remain in the president’s good graces in the chance that he fires Powell, something he has alluded to countless times now.
The Fed lending rate will stay within the 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent range.
This story has been updated.
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