Trump steps up call for US rate cuts in talks with Fed chief

Earlier Thursday, the Fed said Powell had defended US central bank independence over interest rates during the unusual meeting, which Trump had called to discuss “economic developments, including for growth, employment, and inflation.”

“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 Fed said in a statement.  

Powell said the Fed’s rate-setting committee would make its decisions “based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis,” it added.

The meeting, the first since Trump began his second term, marks a ratcheting up of the pressure on Powell following the president’s frequent social media posts criticising him for moving too slowly to cut rates – a process that stokes both growth and inflation.

Trump and Powell met on several occasions during the president’s first term in office.