President Donald Trump’s nemesis at the Federal Reserve said Americans are struggling economically, and that it’s all Trump’s fault.
Jerome Powell, whom Trump first appointed as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2017, shared a damning report on the current state of the U.S. economy on Wednesday, pinning the blame on the president’s actions throughout his second term.
“While job gains have remained low, the unemployment rate has been little changed in recent months, and inflation remains somewhat elevated,” Powell, 73, said. “Today, the FOMC decided to leave our policy rate unchanged.”
Trump, 79, has frequently urged the Fed chairman, whom he has called “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell,” to cut the central bank’s interest rates, saying that the “moron” is “hurting our Country, and its National Security” by refusing to do so.
The president insists the rates should be cut to boost economic growth and lower costs for the government, telling the Wall Street Journal in December that they should be “1 percent and maybe lower than that” within the next year.
“We see the current stance of monetary policy as appropriate to promote progress toward our maximum employment and two percent inflation goals,” Powell explained on Wednesday. “The implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain.”
Since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, global oil prices have skyrocketed after the Middle Eastern nation shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil trade corridor, on March 2.
Americans have had to fork over more at the pump, as the national average price for a gallon of gas has jumped to $3.85 from $2.94 just a month ago.
Powell also said the inflation Americans have felt over the last year “is mainly from the goods and tariffs,” which were implemented globally by Trump at the beginning of his second term last year.
“These elevated readings largely reflect inflation in the goods sector, which has been boosted by the effects of tariffs,” the Fed chair continued. “For many years, [goods inflation] was negative. The year before tariffs came in, it was zero, and it’s running at like two percent now.”
“That’s not coming from standard Phillips curve restrictive policy. It’s coming from the runoff of a one-time thing,” he added.
Powell also responded to the Department of Justice probe into his 2025 congressional testimony, led by MAGA-allied federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro.
“If my successor is not confirmed by the end of my term as chair, I would serve as chair pro-tem until he is confirmed. That is what the law calls for,” he said. “I have no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality.”
On January 30, Trump nominated former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell as chairman of the central bank when his term expires on May 15. A Senate confirmation hearing for Warsh, 55, has not yet been scheduled.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment.
