Trump Slams Powell Again As Michelle Bowman, Christopher Waller Dissent On Rate Cut Delays

President Donald Trump on Friday slammed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell again, after Fed Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller explained their dissenting opinions on the central bank’s decision to delay rate cuts.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept the key borrowing rates unchanged, maintaining the federal funds rate in the 4.25% to 4.5% range, in line with market expectations.

President Trump was quick to criticize Fed Chair Powell after Bowman and Waller’s statements.

“STRONG DISSENTS ON FED BOARD. IT WILL ONLY GET STRONGER! ‘TOO LATE!’” he said in a post on Truth Social.

Both Bowman and Waller dissented, stating they were in favor of a 25-basis-point cut, while adding that the Fed's status quo stance risks hurting the U.S. economy.

Bowman said the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on inflation likely represents a one-time effect, urging the Fed to look through temporarily elevated levels of inflation.

“I see the risk that a delay in taking action could result in a deterioration in the labor market and a further slowing in economic growth,” she added.

Waller, meanwhile, said there is nothing wrong with having different opinions, referring to the 9-2 vote that resulted in the Fed maintaining its status quo stance and keeping interest rates unchanged.

However, he warned that this could result in the Fed falling behind the policy curve.

“I believe that the wait and see approach is overly cautious, and, in my opinion, does not properly balance the risks to the outlook and could lead to policy falling behind the curve,” Waller explained.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities declined in Friday’s pre-market trading session after President Trump unleashed tariffs globally in the range of 10% and 41%.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down 0.95%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 1.14%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

Also See: Dow Futures Decline As Trump Unleashes Tariffs Globally: AAPL, AMZN, COIN, RDDT, CVX, XOM Among Stocks To Watch

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