Trump calls Fed chair Jerome Powell ‘the fool I like very much’

President Trump went off on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell yet again on Thursday from the White House and didn’t even try to hide how he felt.

In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote, “’Too Late’ Jerome Powell is a FOOL, who doesn’t have a clue. Other than that, I like him very much!” The attack came less than 24 hours after Powell and the Fed announced they would keep interest rates where they are for the third straight month.

Trump also once again lied that oil and energy prices had dropped, said grocery and egg prices were down, and bragged that there was “virtually NO INFLATION.” He added, “Tariff Money Pouring Into the US — THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF ‘TOO LATE!’ ENJOY!”

The president launched this tirade after days of tension between the Fed’s rate policy and his push to show the American economy is recovering. Trump has been repeatedly pushing the narrative that his trade policies are bringing in revenue, cutting costs, and doing what Powell can’t.

Trump announces 10% tariff floor, praises UK but slams other trade partners

While the Powell jab got all the attention online, Trump used the same day to confirm a new round of tariff policy. Standing in the Oval Office, he told reporters that 10% will now be the lowest rate on imports from countries looking to secure trade deals with the United States.

“Some will be much higher because they have massive trade surpluses and in many cases they didn’t treat us right,” he said.

Trump made these remarks during a formal announcement of a new trade deal with the United Kingdom. He said the UK had earned the 10% baseline because it “always treated us with great respect.” He then told the room, “That’s a low number, they made a good deal.” 

He was clear that this rate wouldn’t apply across the board and shot down a question from a reporter asking if it was a template for future deals. “No, no,” he said flatly.

The president said the final touches of the UK agreement were still being worked on, but claimed the outcome would include “billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports.” He also said that Britain had agreed to reduce or eliminate several non-tariff barriers that had blocked US products unfairly in the past.

A post from Trump’s Truth Social account shared a chart during the event that showed US tariffs on the UK will remain at 10%. The same chart showed British tariffs on US goods dropping to between 5.1% and 1.8%, though there was no explanation on how those numbers were calculated.

Starmer praises alliance, experts call deal limited

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined the Oval Office event remotely and said, “We’ve built an incredible platform for the future.” But the response in Washington wasn’t all clapping and nods.

Josh Lipsky, who chairs international economics at the Atlantic Council, told CNBC that the deal “is a very small win, and it’s limited in scope.” He argued that deals like this can’t easily be repeated with countries that have larger trade imbalances with the US

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said she will travel to Britain next week to continue talks about expanding US beef exports under the new agreement.

Back in London, 10 Downing Street issued its own statement following the announcement. A spokesperson for Starmer said, “Talks on a deal between our countries have been continuing at pace and the Prime Minister will update later today.” 

The statement stressed that Starmer “will always act in Britain’s national interest,” and called the US “an indispensable ally for both our economic and national security.”

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