Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and President Donald Trump met at the White House on Thursday for the first time in the president’s second term, following recent comments from Trump voicing frustration that Powell hasn’t cut interest rates.
The central bank said in a statement that the two men discussed the economy and emphasized that Powell made no commitments on the trajectory for rates, “except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook.”
Non-Political Analysis for Rate Decisions
The Fed chief also told Trump that he and his colleagues will be guided by data in making policy decisions, as they aim to achieve maximum employment and price stability, the Fed said. Central bank policymakers “will make those decisions based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis,” according to the statement.
Trump’s fury with Powell burst into public view last month, when he said in a post on Truth Social that his “termination cannot come fast enough!” He continued his complaints the following week, calling Powell “a major loser.”
Those comments led to further drops in already jittery markets and fueled a rise in longer-term U.S. government debt yields and a decline in the value of the dollar.
Trump has since said he has “no intention” of firing Powell before his term as chair ends in May 2026.
Last week, the Supreme Court said in a ruling that the relationship between the president and the Fed is different from that of other independent agencies, signaling that Powell is legally protected from being removed by Trump.
