President Donald Trump will visit Federal Reserve in escalation of campaign to pressure Jerome Powell to cut interest rates
Trump administration officials have used concerns about the building overhaul to cast doubt on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's decision making. They were scheduled to inspect the site on Thursday, and the White House announced late Wednesday that the Republican president would also be visiting.
The visit reflects Trump's disregard for the traditional independence of the Fed, which plays a foundational role in the American economy by setting monetary policy that is supposed to be free of political influence.
While previous presidents have criticized the Fed's decisions, Trump's sustained campaign is an unusual and, his critics say, dangerous departure from the norm. He has called on Powell to resign, insulted him repeatedly and suggested that he could be fired.
Ousting Powell could be illegal, and it would send shockwaves through global markets, potentially having the opposite effect that Trump wants as he pushes for lowering borrowing costs.
Trump has criticized Powell for months because the chair has kept the short-term interest rate the Fed controls at 4.3% this year, after cutting it three times last year. Powell says the Fed wants to see how the economy responds to Trump's sweeping tariffs on imports, which Powell says could push up inflation.
Powell's caution has infuriated Trump, who has demanded the Fed cut borrowing costs to spur the economy and reduce the interest rates the federal government pays on its debt.
The Fed has been renovating its Washington headquarters and a neighboring building. With some of the construction occurring underground and as building materials have soared in price after inflation spiked in 2021 and 2022, the estimated cost has ballooned from $1.9 billion to about $2.5 billion.
When asked last week if the costly rebuilding could be grounds to fire Powell, Trump said, 'I think it sort of is.'
'When you spend $2.5 billion on, really, a renovation,' Trump said, 'I think it's really disgraceful.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Federal Reserve likely to stand pat on rates this week, deepening the gulf between Powell and Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is expected to leave its short-term interest rate unchanged on Wednesday for the fifth straight meeting, a move that will likely underscore the deep divide between how Chair Jerome Powell and his chief critic, President Donald Trump, see the economy. The Fed itself, to be sure, is increasingly divided over its next steps, and many economists expect that two members of the Fed's governing board — both appointed by Trump — could dissent on Wednesday in favor of cutting rates. If so, that would be the first time two governors vote against the chair since 1993. Even so, the gap between the views of the Fed's interest-rate setting committee, chaired by Powell, and the White House is unusually large. In several areas, Trump's views sharply contrast with that of the Fed's leadership, setting up likely clashes for years to come, even after Powell's term as chair ends in May 2026. For example, Trump says that because the U.S. economy is doing well, the Fed should cut rates, as if the U.S. is a blue-chip company that should pay less to borrow than a risky start-up. But Fed officials — and nearly all economists — see it the other way: A solid economy means rates should be relatively high, to prevent overheating and a burst of inflation. 'I'd argue that our interest rates are higher because our economy's doing fairly well, not in spite of it,' said Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities. Trump argues that the Fed in general and Powell in particular are costing U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in interest payments by not reducing borrowing costs. Yet Fed officials don't think it's their job to reduce rates the government pays on Treasury notes and bonds. Most economists worry that if they did, they would risk failing at one of the key jobs Congress gave them: fighting inflation. 'It's using monetary policy to ease pressure on fiscal policymakers, and that way points to higher inflation and bigger problems down the road," said William English, an economist at the Yale School of Management and former senior Fed staffer. If financial markets see that the Fed is focused on keeping borrowing costs low to help the government — rather than focusing on its congressionally-mandated goals of stable prices and maximum employment — Wall Street investors, worried about future inflation, will likely demand higher interest rates to hold Treasury bonds, economists say, pushing up borrowing costs across the economy. For his part, Trump says there is 'no inflation' and so the Fed should reduce its short-term rate, currently at about 4.3%, which was ramped up in 2022 and 2023 to fight rising prices. The Fed's rate often — but not always — influences longer-term borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. Inflation has fallen sharply and as a result Fed officials have signaled they will cut rates by as much as a half-percentage point this year. Yet it has picked up a bit in the last two months and many of those policymakers, including Powell, still want to make sure that tariffs aren't going to lift inflation much higher before they make a move. Inflation accelerated to 2.7% in June from 2.4% in May, the government said earlier this month, above the Fed's 2% target. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose to 2.9% from 2.8%. Last week, Trump and several White House officials ramped up their attacks on Powell over rates. They also criticized the ballooning costs of the Fed's renovation of two of its buildings, raising questions over whether the president was looking to fire Powell for cause rather than policy differences. Trump and Powell engaged in an extraordinary on-camera confrontation over the cost of the project during Trump's visit to the building site last Thursday. On Monday, Trump was more restrained in his comments on the Fed during a joint appearance in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "I'm not going to say anything bad,' Trump said. 'We're doing so well, even without the rate cut.' But he added, 'a smart person would cut." Some economists expect that the Fed will reduce its key rate by a quarter-point in September, rather than July, and say that the two-month delay will make little difference to the economy. Yet beyond just the timing of the first cut, there is still a huge gulf between what Trump wants and what the Fed will even consider doing: Fed officials in June penciled in just two reductions this year and one in 2026. They forecast that their key rate will still be 3.6% at the end of next year. Trump is pushing them to cut it to just 1%. 'That's not going to happen with anything like the current people on the committee,' English said. Wall Street investors also expect relatively few cuts: Two this year and two in 2026, according to futures pricing tracked by CME's Fedwatch. According to the Fed's projections, just two officials in June supported three cuts this year, likely Trump's appointments from his first term: governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. Waller gave a speech earlier this month supporting a rate reduction in July, but for a very different reason than Trump: He is worried the economy is faltering. 'The economy is still growing, but its momentum has slowed significantly, and the risks' of rising unemployment 'have increased,' Waller said. Waller has also emphasized that tariffs will create just a one-time bump in prices but won't lead to ongoing inflation. Yet most Fed officials see the job market as relatively healthy — with unemployment at a low 4.1% — and that as a result, they can take time to make sure that's how everything plays out. 'Continued overall solid economic conditions enable the Fed to take the time to carefully assess the wide range of incoming data,' said Susan Collins, president of the Boston Federal Reserve. 'Thus, in my view, an 'actively patient' approach to monetary policy remains appropriate at this time.' Christopher Rugaber, The Associated Press
Boston Globe
12 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump caps his Scottish visit by opening a new golf course
Advertisement Trump used his trip to meet with Starmer and reach a trade framework for tariffs between the U.S. and the European Union's 27 member countries — though scores of key details remain to be hammered out. The overseas jaunt let Trump escape Washington's sweaty summer humidity but also the still-raging scandal over the files related to Jeffrey Epstein. But it was mostly built around golf — and walking the new course before it officially begins selling rounds to the public on Aug. 13, adding to a lengthy list of ways Trump has used the White House to promote his brand. Trump's assets are in a trust, and his sons are running the family business while he's in the White House. But any business generated at the course will ultimately enrich the president when he leaves office. Advertisement The new golf course will be the third owned by the Trump Organization in Scotland. Trump bought Turnberry in 2014 and owns another course near Aberdeen that opened in 2012. Trump golfed on Saturday as protesters took to the streets, and on Sunday. He invited Starmer, who famously doesn't golf, aboard Air Force One so the prime minister could get a private tour of his Aberdeen property before Tuesday's ceremonial opening. 'Even if you play badly, it's still good,' Trump said of golfing on his course over the weekend. 'If you had a bad day on the golf course, it's OK. It's better than other days.' Trump even found time at Turnberry to praise its renovated ballroom, which he said he'd paid lavishly to upgrade — even suggesting that he might install one like it at the White House. 'I could take this one, drop it right down there,' Trump joked. 'And it would be beautiful.'
Business of Fashion
13 minutes ago
- Business of Fashion
How Swap Is Streamlining Brand Operations Through Unified Commerce
2025 is proving to be a year of reckoning for fashion e-commerce businesses. Geopolitical shifts and the consequent disruption to global trade policies mean there is a greater need for consolidated supply chains — and a more unified approach to commerce. Uncertainty around the Trump administration's tariffs has created turmoil for companies in the fashion industry. Smaller, independent brands with large portions of customers in the US and production overseas are especially at risk due to fluctuating policies. To address the challenges and overarching uncertainty facing small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) today, Swap Commerce — an e-commerce operating system (OS) that helps brands manage logistics and operations across borders — seeks to unlock a unified approach to business. A London-based startup founded in 2022 by Sam Atkinson and Zach Bailet, Swap Commerce's support encompasses shipping and returns to inventory, customs and tax compliance — all within a single platform. With pre-built integrations for Shopify, Klaviyo, UPS and FedEx, Swap Commerce enables users to streamline complex back-end tasks, including delivered duty paid (DDP) shipping, automated tax remittance, and express customs clearance. Its tools are designed to help brands quickly adapt their supply chains to tariff shifts and geopolitical disruptions. Swap Commerce partners with 500+ brands worldwide, with annual sales typically ranging from $20 million to $100 million. In the fashion and eyewear sectors, notable partners include Phillip Lim, Sandy Liang, Ed Hardy, Pangaia, The Frankie Shop and Odd Muse. The company is expanding into new areas such as beauty and home goods, collaborating with brands like Joseph Joseph, while venturing into consumer technology. Following a $40 million Series B funding round in early 2025, Swap Commerce aims for further growth in the US, EU, Australia and Canada. Indeed, Swap Commerce grew its revenue sevenfold between March 2024 and March 2025. With new AI-powered tools, including Swap Commerce Inventory — an intelligent forecasting and replenishment engine — Swap Commerce helps brands optimise stock levels and reduce overproduction. Meanwhile, Clear by Swap Global — a B2B2C solution focused on pricing transparency — provides customers with a clear breakdown of duties and taxes upfront, thereby reducing friction at checkout. Another timely offering is the US Domestic Tax Filing solution, which provides assistance in remaining compliant with tax laws in all 50 states. These services are designed to provide SMEs with the tools to navigate the current climate, from communicating price fluctuations with the end consumer to staying up-to-date with tariff shifts or upcoming sustainability regulations. Now, BoF sits down with Swap Commerce's co-founder and CEO Sam Atkinson to understand the value that the company's all-in-one ecosystem can offer fashion and luxury brands in a fragmented value chain and an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. Sam Atkinson, co-founder and CEO of Swap. (Swap) What motivated the founding of Swap Commerce? Before founding Swap Commerce, I ran my own e-commerce business, and many of the features we built at Swap Commerce aim to solve the pain points I experienced when running that business. For instance, we would ship internationally to the UK, then distribute goods back out to other international markets — which, obviously, created all sorts of issues around tax and compliance. I then started a job at McKinsey, where I worked with a number of large retailers on setting up their operations. Swap Commerce also took inspiration from how big businesses approach operations, and looked at how that could be scaled down effectively for smaller businesses. Those were the two main inspirations for Swap Commerce and rendered exactly what we needed to do to support retailers. If you look at what Shopify has done for e-commerce, it has tried to unify many of the different tools that a brand might have used separately. What we have done, similar to Shopify, is to offer the same unification but for your back-office operations. This includes the parts that feel slightly less exciting, but are really fundamental to your business, whether that is tax and compliance, how you manage your inventory, how you manage your returns, or how you manage what stock should be in which location. What do you believe sets Swap Commerce apart from other tools available for SMEs? First, the user interface that we have built, compared to some of the more legacy providers, is really strong. We also provide connectivity across tools. For example, if you are using the software platform NetSuite for your accounting, we can integrate it seamlessly within Swap Commerce. Any tax calculation we perform for you at Swap Commerce will also be reflected in your NetSuite or other accounting softwares. That connectivity — especially as you become a larger brand generating upwards of 50 to hundreds of millions in revenue — becomes critical, as you are likely using several different systems to manage your operations. Our ability to quickly and seamlessly connect to those systems makes our customers' lives easier. We also offer a suite of different products, whereas many of our competitors only have one. We have a cross-border product where we are the main provider globally; we have a returns product and we have an inventory forecasting tool that we're just launching. You can use one product or multiple — but if you do use multiple, the idea is that they are value compounds. We also leverage data across our different products, so we are able to give you better insights on what you should be doing with your business. Whereas, if you use Global-e for international shipping and Loop for returns management, you'd have to do an integration between both platforms to make them harmonise. What trade and customs pain points do brands expanding internationally face, and how can Swap Commerce support them in this process? It depends on the brand. We recently experienced the rollout of tariffs in the US, and for brands manufacturing in China, that means any shipment that had previously been duty-free now faces a 50 to 60 percent tariff. Even understanding what your landed cost will be is a challenge now. What I mean by that is: what is the total cost to get the shipment to your customer? Being able to give a brand clarity on that, and what it means for their profitability, is an intrinsic part of our work. Internationally, there are all sorts of local tax rules that you need to comply with as well. [We offer] unification for your back-office operations [...] whether that is tax and compliance, how you manage your inventory, how you manage your returns, or stock allocation. For example, if you are a brand selling into New York, once you exceed a particular sales threshold, you are required to start collecting state tax. It is these kinds of complexities that, as a brand, you are not focused on. We try to take that headache away from you. We'll monitor when you cross that threshold, register you for state tax in New York and facilitate the payments on your behalf. We have also built a duty and tax calculation tool which allows you to estimate the cost of any shipment to any location, including duty and taxes. There are a number of different use-cases for it, whether you are a shipping postal carrier, or you want to communicate to customers how much duty and taxes they must pay. How does Clear by Swap help brands navigate tariff changes? Clear enables a brand that has goods made in China to ship to its customers in the United States in a more cost-effective way. It is mostly applicable to UK brands or international brands that also have a US entity. We can help the brand establish a US entity if they do not already have one, then facilitate an inter-company transfer — moving goods from the UK entity to the US entity. The US entity purchases the goods from the UK entity at fair market value. That's typically the manufacturer's cost price (what you pay in China), plus a reasonable markup — similar to what you might charge a wholesaler in the US. Tariffs will be charged on that lower price instead of the retail price — so it is a significant saving. If your transfer price for a product is $50 and the tariff is 50 percent, you pay $25. But if your retail price is $150, you'd be paying $75 in tariff. Clear has essentially allowed brands to continue trading while they decide what to do with their setups post-tariffs. How is Swap Commerce supporting fashion brands specifically? One of the biggest pain points for e-commerce and retail brands has been how to attract and retain customers in a competitive market — especially as privacy regulations make targeted marketing more difficult. There are numerous tools available to help with this now, but we are seeing customer retention become a priority for brands over customer acquisition. How do we help solve that challenge? We manage the returns process, and have other post-purchase tools that offer a seamless customer experience, such as a repair and recycle tool for returned inventory. Looking ahead, what do you believe fashion brands will need from the e-commerce space in the medium term? As AI becomes more widespread, we are thinking about how it can impact a brand's day-to-day operations. A lot of technology tends to reach e-commerce later than it does in enterprise software, where companies are often early adopters. So, we're proactively looking to that space for ideas and innovations we can bring into e-commerce sooner than they might arrive organically. We are exploring how you could automate the day-to-day of an e-commerce brand using AI or using AI agents. Whether it's the processing of your orders and returns, or the automation of the tax filing — and that's more than just filling out the tax form. You could build an agent that would log into the Florida State Tax Portal, submit the form on your behalf, and ensure that all of your filings are done on time, in an automated manner. Our goal is to bring this kind of automation to multiple areas of e-commerce — and that's where we see the most exciting opportunities ahead. This is a sponsored featured paid for by Swap Commerce as part of a BoF partnership.
