President Donald Trump on Friday expressed confidence the Federal Reserve will start lowering interest rates, a day after he met with central bank Chair Jerome Powell.
The president again indicated the meeting took a positive tone and believes the Fed is ready to provide the monetary policy easing he has been seeking for months.
“I think we had a very good meeting on interest rates. And [Powell] said to me ... very strongly, the country is doing well,’” Trump told reporters. “I got that to mean that I think he’s going to start recommending lower rates.”
Powell and his fellow policymakers have been reluctant to lower rates as they wait to see the impact that Trump’s tariffs have on inflation. In fact, one argument Powell has made against cutting is that the economy is strong enough that it can withstand higher rates as officials watch how the data evolves.
Prior to Trump’s remarks, White House budget director Russell Vought kept up the heat on the Fed’s renovation project, pushing the case both for a review of the central bank while pressing for lower interest rates.
