Overview

• In their first meeting of Trump’s second term the president accused Powell of making a “mistake” by keeping borrowing costs high
• Powell reaffirmed the Fed’s independence and said policy choices depend solely on economic information and their effects
• At its early-May meeting the Fed left its benchmark rate at 4.25 – 4.5 percent, citing inflation risks and uncertainty from trade policies
• White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt denounced a New York court decision blocking most of Trump’s tariffs as “plainly wrong”
• Fed representative Austan Goolsbee said the central bank could consider a rate cut if the administration permanently rolled back tariffs