Business
Trump Accuses Fed of Keeping Rates High for ‘Political Reasons’
President Donald Trump used his press conference about the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling to criticize Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, accusing him of keeping rates elevated for “political reasons.”
The president, discussing the national debt, told a group of reporters on Friday afternoon that Powell “likes high interest rates for political reasons,” before adding that “we’re going to have somebody very good” coming in to replace him, referring to Kevin Warsh, his nominee to replace Powell in May.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted in January to pause rate cuts after three successive quarter-point cuts, citing a stable labor market and still-elevated inflation. Warsh has publicly supported lower interest rates, arguing that productivity gains from artificial intelligence, deregulation and capital investment could allow inflation to recede without a downturn, opening space for a quicker succession of rate cuts.