President Trump on Wednesday renewed his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, criticizing the Fed’s tight monetary policy and calling for deep interest rate cuts to lower the government’s borrowing costs.
“He’s a political guy and not a smart person,” Trump told reporters during a ceremony on the White House lawn to mark the installation of two new flagpoles.
The former president argued that the economy is performing well despite the Fed’s high interest rates—and that it would be doing even better if Powell lowered them. Trump said the central bank should slash its benchmark rate by two-and-a-half percentage points. The Fed has held its target rate steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent since December 2024, just before Trump returned to office.
In addition to rate cuts, Trump laid out a short-term borrowing strategy he said would save taxpayers money.
“What I’m going to do is I’m going to go very short-term, like six months, seven months, eight months. Wait till this guy gets out, get the rates way down, and then go long term,” Trump said. “We have a tremendous appetite for our debt because our country is doing well.”
Trump continued his personal criticisms of Powell, dismissing him as “a stupid person” and predicting the Fed would not deliver rate cuts at the conclusion of its policy meeting later Wednesday.
“He’s not a smart guy. He’s worried about inflation. If there’s inflation in six months or nine months you…raise the rates,” Trump said. “I guess he’s a political guy. He’s not a smart person and he’s costing the country a fortune.”
Trump also took a shot at President Biden for reappointing Powell to a second term as Fed chair, claiming he would never have done so himself. He also criticized former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for recommending Powell’s appointment in the first place.
“I would have never reappointed him. Biden reappointed him. I don’t know why that is. I guess maybe he was a Democrat. I got great advice from Mnuchin on this one,” Trump said. “Great advice. He’s done a poor job.”
On his prior clashes with Powell during his first term, Trump said his criticism has been vindicated.
“Every time I did this, I was right, he was wrong,” Trump said, obviously enjoying his return to criticizing Powell. “Maybe I should go to the Fed. Am I allowed to appoint myself? I’d do a much better job than these people.”
Trump went further, speculating that Powell’s reluctance to cut rates stems from personal animosity.
“I don’t even think he’s that political. I think he hates me. But that’s okay. He should. I call him every name in the book trying to get him to do something. I’ve been nice to him,” Trump said. “‘Let’s have dinner, Too Late.’ I call him Too Late. ‘Come on, Too Late, let’s have dinner.’ I do it every way in the book. I’m nasty. I’m nice. Nothing works. He’s just a stupid person.”
The president also defended his tariff policies, touting their revenue impact and rejecting claims that they contributed to inflation.
“$88 billion came in from tariffs. No inflation,” Trump said. “I know what I’m doing.”
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