Trump summons Federal Reserve chair to demand interest rate cut

WASHINGTON — President Trump called Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to the White House Thursday to demand a cut in interest rates — pointing to a dramatic decline in inflation since its peak under former President Joe Biden.Trump, 78, told Powell, 72, 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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters after the private meeting.“The president’s been very vocal about that, both publicly and, now I can reveal, privately,” she said.The Federal Reserve’s press office said that “[a]t the President’s invitation, Chair Powell met with the President today at the White House to discuss economic developments including for growth, employment, and inflation.”Powell “did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook,” that statement said.“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 central bank’s benchmark rate has remained between 4.25% and 4.5% since Trump took office in January.It was last lowered in December 2024 by 0.25 percentage points.The annual inflation rate dropped to just 2.3% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index — roughly in line with the Fed’s target of 2% and down significantly from its peak of 9.1% in June 2022.The benchmark figure — which is up to two percentage points higher than its peak during Trump’s first term — impacts the cost of business loans as well as consumer credit cards and mortgages.The average 30-year mortgage rate remains at just unde...