Trump says Fed chair is ‘too late’ on interest rates: ‘Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!’

• President Donald Trump called Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell “wrong” for his decision to not further cut interest rates. Powell had previously said Trump’s tariff policy would lead to higher inflation and lower growth. 

President Donald Trump continued his regular tradition of criticizing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell whenever he makes any public comments. This time Trump said he was openly looking forward to the end of Powell’s tenure. 

"Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!"

Early Thursday morning, Trump posted on social media taking aim at Powell, who had given a public speech at the Economic Club of Chicago on Wednesday. Trump rehashed his yearslong belief that Powell should lower interest rates more quickly. 

“‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’” Trump wrote.

The Fed has paused a rate-cutting cycle it had started in September 2024. So far in 2025, the Fed has not made any changes to monetary policy, leaving the federal funds target rate between 4.25% and 4.5%. In his post, Trump compared Powell’s decision to that of the European Central Bank, which cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday. 

As a Fed chair in a time of great economic uncertainty, investors and business owners pore over every word of Powell’s remarks in the hopes of divining some clues about the central bank’s future decisions. Yesterday was no different. Powell’s speech on Wednesday was strongly worded for a central banker. He was clear the Fed’s view of the future of the U.S. economy had worsened as a result of Trump’s tariff policy. 

“The level of tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated, and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” Powell said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com