Trump calls on Fed to cut interest rates to 2%, criticizes Powell

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday repeated his calls for a sharp drop in interest rates, while renewing his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Trump praised strong second-quarter gross domestic product figures released earlier in the day but said interest rates remained “too high.”

“If it weren’t for Jerome ’Too Late’ Powell, we would be at 2% right now, and in the process of balancing our budget. The good news is that we’re powering through his incompetence,” Trump wrote on Truth.Social.

The Fed had last week cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 4% to 4.25%, but maintained a cautious stance on further easing. Powell also said earlier this week that there was no “risk-free path” for the economy amid sticky inflation and a cooling labor market.

Second-quarter GDP data highlighted some strength in the U.S. economy, but the effects of Trump’s trade tariffs and a recent labor market slowdown were expected to be more pronounced in the third quarter.

Trump has repeatedly called on the Fed to cut rates, citing dire potential economic consequences from no immediate monetary easing. His nominee for the Fed board, Stephan Miran, echoed this view during the Fed’s meeting last week.

Other Fed officials, however, largely dismissed calls for a sharp reduction in rates. Powell and several colleagues flagged caution over further easing this week.

Markets are pricing in a 93% chance of another 25-basis-point rate cut in October, and a 59.8% chance of an additional 25-basis-point cut in December, according to CME FedWatch.