The American president again called for lowering interest rates. He also admitted that he was “very hard with China” in terms of customs duties, adding however that Beijing now wanted to reach an agreement.
Donald Trump said that he would not dismiss the president of the Federal Reserve (Fed) Jerome Powell before the end of the latter’s mandate, in May 2026, while calling him “real stuck” and calling again to lower interest rates. In an interview with the program “Meet the press with Kristen Welker” from NBC News, broadcast on Sunday, the American president added that he expected the Fed to lower his interest rates at one time or another.
“(Powell) should lower them. And at one point, he will. He prefers not to do it because he is not one of my fans. You know, he doesn’t like me because I think it’s a real stuck,” he said during the interview, recorded on Friday in Florida.
Asked to say if he intended to dismiss Jerome Powell from his functions before the end of his mandate in 2026, Donald Trump said: “No, no, no (…). Why would I do that? I have the opportunity to replace this person in a very short time.”
Trump assures that China wants “really an agreement” on customs duties
Wall Street fell sharply last month after Donald Trump multiplied his attacks on Jerome Powell, amplifying concerns about the autonomy of the Fed and shaking markets. The American president has gone back somewhat since then.
Donald Trump, who destabilized the financial markets by imposing important customs duties on the products imported in the United States, also refused to exclude from NBC News the possibility that some of these samples become permanent: “No, I would not do so, because if someone thinks that customs duties will no longer be applied, why would he build in the United States?”
At the same time, he recognized that he was “very hard with China” in terms of customs duties, adding however that Beijing now wanted to reach an agreement. “They really want to conclude an agreement. We will see how it goes, but it must be a fair agreement.”
