The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman, Jerome Powell, roiled the U.S. stock exchanges on Wednesday, April 16, in comments declaring that the national bank expects renewed inflationary pressures from the administration’s tariff policy and thus does not anticipate any interest rate cuts in the near future.
Remember: Prior to the U.S. election in 2024, Powell and the Fed cut rates 50 basis points in September, even though inflation showed few signs that it was moving anywhere close to the bank’s target rate of 2 percent.
This, of course, reflected the overwhelming globalist (i.e., Demofiend) tendency of Fed voting members. As soon as Trump entered the White House, the Fed suddenly grew cautious and quit cutting rates. This tendency continued even as inflation showed a sudden easing in March 2025.
Right or wrong, Trump holds to the belief that America’s economic interests are best served by a robust tariff policy. He has even suggested that tariffs can be a better source of government income than are income taxes. He consistenly points to the strength of the U.S. economy under President William McKinley (1897-1901) in a period prior to the implementation of federal income taxes.
Following the market rout on April 16, Trump posted on social media that it was time for Powell to go. He wrote that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough.”
The day after Powel’s comments, the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates from 2.5 percent to 2.25 percent in a complete reversal of the Fed chairman’s view that tariff uncertainty should lock in rates until what Powell views as a trade war is settled.