Fed chair outlines just how damaging Trump’s tariffs will be
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a speech at a conference for the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing on Friday, warning that President Donald Trump’s disastrous tariffs will lead to higher inflation.
“Looking ahead, higher tariffs will be working their way through our economy and are likely to raise inflation in coming quarters. We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation,” he said. “While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected. And the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”
Powell mentioned inflation more than 36 times during his speech, suggesting that he and the Federal Reserve don’t have any to lower interest rates, which are currently at about 4.3%. Traditionally, higher borrowing costs can help slow economic growth and reduce inflation.
Meanwhile, Trump took to Truth Social to put the onus on Powell, pressuring him to cut interest rates.
While Trump is the one who appointed Powell to the Federal Reserve, the two have butted heads numerous times. But Powell has been clear that he has no plans to resign, and the president cannot legally remove him either.
Powell’s tenure at the reserve is up in 2026, but according to an April 2024 Wall Street Journal report, Trump’s goon squad has been secretly working up plans to “blunt the Fed’s independence,” in an attempt to give the executive branch control over interest rates.
And while stock markets around the globe plummet for a second day straight, Trump has ditched the honoring of fallen U.S. soldiers to attend a billionaire Saudi-funded golf tournament this weekend.
So much for grocery prices going down.