President Donald Trump met Thursday with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the White House and urged the central bank to lower interest rates, renewing his call for more accommodative monetary policy to strengthen U.S. competitiveness and growth.
The White House said Trump told Powell he was making “a mistake” by keeping rates elevated, arguing the current policy stance disadvantages the U.S. relative to other major economies, particularly China.
“The president has been very vocal about that both publicly—and now I can reveal—privately as well,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. She confirmed that Trump did not raise the issue of removing Powell, whose term as chair runs through May 2026.
The meeting, held at Trump’s invitation, marked their first in-person discussion since the president returned to office in January and their first meeting since November 2019. Attendees included Vice President J.D. Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, a White House official said.
In a brief statement, the Federal Reserve said Powell and Trump discussed economic developments including growth, employment, and inflation. The Fed emphasized that Powell “did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy” and reiterated that interest-rate decisions would depend entirely on economic data.
Powell, the central bank said, told the president that the Fed would “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 meeting comes at a moment of renewed tension between the White House and the central bank. Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell in recent months for what he sees as overly tight monetary policy, calling him “Too Late Powell” and “a major loser” on social media. Although the president’s criticisms sparked speculation that he might attempt to remove Powell before the expiration of his chairmanship, Trump has said he has no plans to do so.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued a decision expanding the president’s removal authority over independent federal officials, but it went out of its way to say this did not apply to Fed officials.
The Fed has held its benchmark federal-funds rate steady between 4.25 percent and 4.5 percent throughout 2025, even as inflation eased to 2.3 percent in April. Policymakers have signaled caution amid economic uncertainty tied in part to the administration’s expanding use of tariffs. A federal court ruling earlier this week struck down many of the new tariffs—only to have that order stayed by an appeals court on Thursday.
While markets largely expect rate cuts later this year, Fed officials have stressed patience, citing conflicting signals from inflation data and the labor market. Trump, by contrast, has argued that continued restraint risks undermining economic momentum and weakening the U.S. position abroad. Derivatives tied to Fed policy imply the Fed will cut rates two or three times this year, down from earlier expectations for four rate cuts, according to the CME FedWatch tool.