Powell met Trump at the White House but refused to discuss interest rate plans

Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, met with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House after repeatedly saying he wasn’t interested in doing that.

This was their first meeting since Trump returned to office for a second term. The central bank released a formal statement confirming the meeting and made one thing very clear: no conversation about interest rates took place.

“At the President’s invitation, Chair Powell met with the President today at the White House to discuss economic developments including for growth, employment, and inflation,” the Fed’s statement said. “Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook.”

The statement ended with a reminder that Powell and the FOMC will stick to what the law tells them to do:- support maximum employment and stable prices, using only “careful, objective, and non-political analysis.”

Trump pushes, Powell resists

The timing of this meeting matters. Trump’s been shouting from his soapbox on Truth Social, demanding rate cuts. The economy is in a weird place — inflation is still breathing down everyone’s neck while Trump is out here throwing around more tariffs, which could push prices up again. Powell’s job? Keep prices stable. But Trump? He wants lower rates now.

On May 17, Trump posted in all caps, “THE CONSENSUS OF ALMOST EVERYBODY IS THAT ‘THE FED SHOULD CUT RATES SOONER, RATHER THAN LATER.’ Too Late Powell, a man legendary for being Too Late, will probably blow it again – But who knows???”

Earlier this month, Powell told reporters that they hadn’t met yet, and he wasn’t planning on starting that conversation. “I’ve never asked for a meeting with any president, and I never will,” Powell said. “I wouldn’t do that. There’s never a reason for me to ask for a meeting. It’s always been the other way.”

That’s his style — stay quiet, stay legal, and act like the numbers are in charge, not the politicians. So here we are now: they’ve finally met. Trump probably tried to get him to say something — we don’t know. But Powell, by all accounts, didn’t bite.

With new tariffs in play and price pressures building again, the Fed is walking a tightrope. Rate cuts now could give Trump the economic boost he wants heading into a possible re-election fight, but it could also be reckless.

According to futures market pricing, traders don’t expect the Fed to touch rates until at least September, skipping meetings in June and July. There’s still a chance they cut one more time before the end of the year. But that depends on the data.

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