After signaling restraint, Trump renews criticism of the Federal Reserve

President Donald Trump took aim at the Federal Reserve during a rally Tuesday in Michigan, suggesting that the central bank’s leadership is underperforming and claiming he knows more about interest rates than its chairman.

“I have a Fed person who is not really doing a good job,” Trump told supporters, without naming Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell. “I want to be very nice and respectful to the Fed,” he added.

The remarks suggest the president has no intention of relenting in his public criticisms of the Fed and its chairman. Trump continues to push the independent central bank to lower interest rates amid widespread economic uncertainty fueled largely by the president’s escalating trade war.

Just a week ago, Trump moderated his tone on the Fed after making social media posts criticizing Powell as a “major loser” whose “termination cannot come fast enough” fueled new declines in stock prices, a weaker dollar and a spike in government borrowing costs — as well as speculation that the president would seek to dismiss Powell.

In reversing himself, Trump said last week that he had “no intention” of seeking to remove Powell from his post. “Never did,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “The press runs away with things. No, I have no intention of firing him.”

The president’s shift in tone last week followed the counsel of several administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, The Washington Post reported. The officials cautioned that the administration did not need further disruption in financial markets from an all-out battle with the Federal Reserve and that it already had several major economic fights on its hands, including new tariffs.

In his Michigan remarks, Trump seemed to acknowledge the pushback against attacking the Fed.

“You are not supposed to criticize the Fed; you are supposed to let him do his own thing,” Trump said Tuesday. “But I know much more than he does about interest rates, believe me.”

Congress structured the Fed to be insulated from short-term political pressure. That’s because presidents and other elected officials often prefer lower interest rates to spur immediate growth, even if it risks higher inflation down the line, which could ultimately harm the broader economy.

During his first term, Trump repeatedly criticized Powell — whom he originally appointed as chair — berating him on social media and imploring the Fed to lower rates. By late 2018, Trump started asking advisers whether he could fire Powell after markets dipped on fears of the president’s escalating trade war with China. His advisers told him he lacked the authority.

Publicly, Powell did not respond to the attacks, and while the Fed ultimately cut interest rates in 2019, those moves were unrelated to Trump’s browbeating. Instead, officials tied the cuts to a potential slowdown caused by the U.S.-China trade war. It was an easier call because inflation wasn’t a concern at the time, unlike the present circumstances.

In recent weeks and months, Trump had revisited the idea of dumping the Fed chair with new intensity, raising fears among longtime observers that he might finally act on it. Some of the restraints that had once held him back — legal caution, institutional norms and strong pushback from senior officials — have largely been removed.