Trump takes another swipe at the Fed after April inflation comes in light
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- President Donald Trump repeated calls for the Fed to cut rates after April's CPI data.
- "No Inflation, and Prices of Gasoline, Energy, Groceries, and practically everything else, are DOWN!!!"
- Yet, Wall Street is still bracing for higher price growth later in the year.
President Donald Trump leveled fresh criticism at the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, stating the central bank is taking too long to slash interest rates following the surprisingly cool April inflation data.
"No Inflation, and Prices of Gasoline, Energy, Groceries, and practically everything else, are DOWN!!! THE FED must lower the RATE, like Europe and China have done. What is wrong with Too Late Powell?" Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to Chairman Jerome Powell.
It's the latest in a string of pointed remarks the president has made against the Fed chief. It follows Tuesday's cooler-than-expected consumer price index report, which showed prices rose 2.3% year over year in April, down from 2.4% in March.
Though Tuesday's CPI reading is a far cry from the "no inflation" scenario Trump describes, it marks the slowest uptick of inflation since 2021.
Trump has repeatedly demanded that interest rates come down, a request the central bank did not accommodate during last week's policy meeting.
The Fed, noting that tariffs are creating considerable inflation and labor uncertainty, kept rates unchanged at a range of 4.25%-4.50%.
Wall Street forecasters warn that inflation is bound to pick up as soon as next month, as tariff impacts take a while to show up in the data.
Even this week's recent trade truce between the US and China might not be enough to stop price growth, according to Fed Governor Adriana Kugler. In a speech on Monday, the central bank official outlined that most executives still plan to pass on tariff costs to consumers.