The increasingly fraught relationship between President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is back in focus as the Federal Open Market Committee is set to announce its next move on interest rates on Wednesday.
At stake is the direction of U.S. monetary policy and Trump’s renewed pressure on the central bank to deliver rate cuts he says are needed to keep the economy growing.
Powell, however, has slowly moved on those calls, maintaining a cautious, data-dependent approach to managing inflation and economic growth. That restraint has become the centerpiece of the rift between the White House and the Fed.
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Trump, who appointed Powell in 2017, has grown increasingly vocal in his criticism, repeatedly urging the central bank to cut rates as a way to stimulate the economy.
Throughout the year, the president has intensified his pressure campaign, publicly chastising Powell and resorting to personal insults to express his frustration with the Fed’s decisions.
Here’s a look at the unfolding battle between Trump and Powell over monetary policy.
Timeline:
Jan. 29: The Fed holds rates steady amid inflation uncertainty. Trump says in a social media post that if the “Fed had spent less time on DEI, gender ideology, green energy, and fake climate change” the nation’s inflation rates would not have been an economic issue.
Powell pushed back on former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk’s claims that the Fed is “absurdly overstaffed.”
“We run a very careful budget process where we’re fully aware. We owe that to the public, and we believe we do that. I’ve got no further comment on that, thanks,” Powell told FOX Business during a press briefing. Powell also announced that the central bank would hold interest rates steady.
Feb 12: Trump says lower interest rates will go “hand-in-hand” with his administration’s tariff rollout. “Let’s rock and roll, America,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
March 19: Powell announces the Fed will continue holding interest rates steady.
April 4: Trump turns up the heat on Powell in a Truth Social post in all caps, writing, “CUT INTEREST RATES JEROME AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS.”
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April 17: Trump says in a social media post that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough,” adding the Fed chief he tapped in 2017 is “always too late and wrong.”
April 21: The president demands “major loser” Powell immediately cut rates.
May 7: Powell says the Fed will leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
May 8: Trump calls Powell a “fool” who “doesn’t have a clue” the morning after the Fed left rates at the 4.25% to 4.5% range. He later says Powell did not cut rates because he was “not in love with me.”
May 29: Powell meets with Trump at the White House for the first time since the start of the president’s second term.
June 19: The president calls Powell “truly one of the dumbest, and most destructive, people in government” in a Truth Social post. He added that his current Fed chair is an “American disgrace.”
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June 21: Trump says he was considering changing his mind about firing Powell, who he called a “total and complete moron.” “Maybe, just maybe, I’ll have to change my mind about firing him?” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
June 24: In a social media post, Trump says he hopes lawmakers work “this very dumb, hardheaded person, over.” The Truth Social post came ahead of Powell’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee.
June 25: During a NATO press briefing, Trump said Powell had a “low IQ” and that he was considering three or four candidates to take the Fed chair job.
June 30: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reads out from Trump to Powell during a press briefing. Trump called Powell by the nickname “Mr. Too Late” and said that by not cutting rates, the Fed chair has cost the U.S. “hundreds of billions of dollars.”
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July 8: Trump calls on “terrible” Powell to resign immediately and tells reporters, “We should get somebody in there that’s going to lower interest rates.”
July 14: Trump describes Powell as a “knucklehead” and a “stupid guy,” citing frustrations over Powell’s refusal to cut rates. “We should be at 1%. We should be less than 1%,” the president said of the rates.
July 15: Trump calls renovation cost overruns at the Federal Reserve a “fireable offense” and says talking to Powell is “like talking to a chair.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House has begun a “formal process” to find Powell’s successor. Bessent declined to give a timeline for the nomination.
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July 16: Trump asks House Republicans during a meeting if he should fire Powell. The president tells reporters at the White House “almost every one of them said I should” dismiss the Fed chair. He said it was unlikely he would fire Powell.
Trump also told reporters at the White House that Powell was doing a “lousy” job and that several people had called him begging for the role.
July 18: In a social media post, Trump calls Powell a “numbskull” and says the seven people that make up the Federal Reserve Board of Governors are “equally to blame” for hurting the U.S. economy.
July 24: Trump tours the Federal Reserve’s construction site with Powell and tells reporters that the renovations will cost $3.1 billion, a hike from the previous $2.5 billion estimate.
Powell dismisses the claim before explaining that Trump’s estimate includes work outside the scope of the current renovation.
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July 25: The president told reporters before departing for Scotland that he thought Powell was a “very good man” and that the two had a productive meeting.
He reiterated that Powell should cut rates at next week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
July 28: Trump said that the U.S. economy is “doing so well even without the rate cut” during a bilateral meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland.
“He should cut. A smart person would cut,” Trump said, adding that Powell “leaves very soon.”
July 30: Powell said during a press conference that the Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave the rate unchanged.
Powell said that while the labor market was “solid,” he said inflation was “somewhat above” the Fed’s 2% target. The decision marked the fifth time this year the Fed had kept the interest rate steady. Before the FOMC meeting, Trump said Powell has “done a bad job” and is “always too late.”
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July 31: In a Truth Social post, Trump called Powell “too late, “too angry” and “too political” to have the job as Fed chair.
The president also described the ongoing renovation of the Fed’s headquarters as “corrupt.”
Aug. 1: Trump called for the Fed’s Board to take full control of the central bank from Powell in order to cut rates.
Later in the day, the Fed announced that governor Adriana Kugler would step down from her role early, giving Trump the opportunity to appoint someone to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
On the heels of the jobs report, Trump said the “numbers were rigged” and called the data a “total scam.”
Aug. 12: Trump said he was considering a “major lawsuit against Powell” over cost overruns tied to the Federal Reserve renovation. He said Powell has done a “grossly incompetent job” in managing the construction of the Fed’s headquarters in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood in Washington.
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Aug. 19: Trump said Powell is “hurting” the housing industry “very badly” and repeated his call for a big cut to U.S. interest rates.
“People can’t get a mortgage because of him. There is no inflation, and every sign is pointing to a major rate cut,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referencing Powell.
Sept. 5: Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Jerome Too Late Powell should have lowered rates long ago.” He added that Powell is “Too Late,” as usual.
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Sept. 10: The president said there was “No Inflation” and that Powell must “lower the RATE, BIG, right now.” In the same Truth Social post, Trump called Powell a “total disaster, who doesn’t have a clue.”
Sept. 25: Trump touted the nation’s “great numbers” and economic “success,” but said interest rates were still too high and placed the blame on Powell in a Truth Social post.
“The good news is that we’re powering through his incompetence and we’ll soon be doing, as a country, better than we have ever done before,” Trump added.
Oct. 1: Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he believes “Powell is an OBSTRUCTIONIST!”
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