President Trump met Thursday with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the White House, amid ongoing criticism from the president over the central bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady.
The president invited Powell to meet with him, according to a statement from the Fed, to “discuss economic developments including for growth, employment, and inflation.”
“The president did say that he believes the Fed chair is making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, which is putting us at an economic disadvantage to China and other countries,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on the meeting.
When asked if Trump discussed plans for Powell and if the president wants to replace him, Leavitt said, “no.”
Powell didn’t discuss his expectations for monetary policy but stressed “that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook,” according to the central bank.
The meeting comes three weeks after Powell told reporters he had not asked for a meeting with Trump, had never requested a meeting with any president, and wouldn’t do so as Fed chief.
When asked about potentially meeting with Powell, Trump said doing so would be “like talking to a wall” and reiterated his complaints with the Fed’s monetary policy.
Trump has repeatedly bashed Powell, whom he first appointed in 2017, in part because he has bucked calls from the president to lower borrowing costs.
Trump has called the chair “Too Late” and a “fool,” while Powell has defended not reducing rates as the Fed waits to see how the president’s whipsaw trade policies and tax cut plans affect a sturdy U.S. economy.
Trump’s frustration with Powell over interest rates seemingly came to a head last month, with some questioning whether the White House would try to oust him. But the president later dispelled that notion, saying he had no intentions of firing the Fed leader.
Others in the administration have also bashed Powell, including Vice President Vance, who recently called him a “nice guy” who has been “wrong about almost everything.”
Updated at 1:22 p.m. EDT
