U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., Jan. 31, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
President Donald Trump agreed with the Federal Reserve for its decision last week to leave interest rates unchanged, an early pivot from his previous demand that the central bank ease “immediately.”
In an exchange with reporters Sunday, Trump said holding its key borrowing level in a range between 4.25%-4.5% was the correct move for the Fed.
“I’m not surprised,” he said regarding the decision, according to multiple reports. “Holding the rates at this point was the right thing to do.”
The statement stood in stark contrast to one Trump delivered when speaking remotely to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In a Jan. 23 appearance, Trump said he would “demand that interest rates drop immediately.”
The president has no direct authority over the Fed, though he does nominate the chairman as well as other board members. Current Chair Jerome Powell is a Trump nominee, and a frequent target of the president’s criticism.
Markets don’t expect the Fed to lower rates until at least June. In his post-meeting news conference last Wednesday, Powell repeatedly asserted that the Fed doesn’t need to be in a “hurry” to lower further after shaving a full percentage point off the fed funds rate from September to December in 2024.
The Fed’s decision-making got potentially more complicated after Trump on Saturday said he would impose aggressive tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China, the three largest U.S. trading partners. Economists worry that the tariffs will drive up prices at a time when inflation has shown signs of easing.