Fed chair tells Trump policy will not be politically influenced
May 30 (UPI) -- The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, has told President Donald Trump that monetary policy will not be influenced by politics.
Powell and Trump had a meeting Thursday as the president has been pressuring the central bank to lower interest rates.
A statement published by the Reserve following the meeting said that Powell and Trump discussed economic issues, including growth, employment and inflation.
What Powell did not discuss was his expectation for monetary policy, according to the sternly worded statement, "except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook."
"Chairman Powell said that he and his colleagues on the [Federal Open Market Committee] will set monetary policy, as required by law, to support maximum employment and stable prices and will make those decisions based solely on careful, objective and non-political analysis," the statement said.
The meeting was held at Trump's invitation, it added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed during a press conference Thursday that Trump saw the statement and that it was "correct."
"However, the president did say that he believes the Fed chair is making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, which is putting us at an economic disadvantage to China and other countries," she said.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration has been seeking to influence Powell and the Fed to lower interest rates.
The Fed has steadily cut the interest rate from a high of 5.5% since the summer of 2024 but has maintained a lending rate of between 4.25% and 4.5% throughout the Trump administration due to uncertainty over the president's ever-changing tariff policies.
The Fed issued its most recent hold on the interest rate earlier this month over concerns about tariff-related inflation and slower economic growth.
"Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further," the Fed said in its May 7 statement.
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the Fed and Powell.
On May 2, he took to his Truth Social platform to broadcast "THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!" As a reason, he pointed to a recent drop in gas prices.
After the Fed maintained its interest rate hold about a week later, Trump called Powell "a FOOL, who doesn't have a clue."
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