Donald Trump takes another jab at Fed Chair Jerome Powell over rate cut: ‘Legendary for being too late…’

United States President Donald Trump has once again pushed for the country's central bank to cut rates “sooner, rather than later”, and jibed at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for the delay.

Donald Trump called him “Too Late Powell”, and claimed that a rate cut is “the consensus of almost everybody”.

What did Donald Trump say?

In a post on his own social media platform Truth Social, Donald Trump wrote: “THE CONSENSUS OF ALMOST EVERYBODY IS THAT, “THE FED SHOULD CUT RATES SOONER, RATHER THAN LATER.” Too Late Powell, a man legendary for being Too Late, will probably blow it again - But who knows??? (sic)”

This comes after last month, while speaking at a rally in Michigan to mark his 100 days in office, Donald Trump critcised Jerome Powell for his decisions and touted his own tariffs policies.

“Inflation is basically down and interest rates came down despite the fact that I have a Fed person who’s not really doing a good job. You’re not supposed to criticise the Fed. You’re supposed to let him do his own thing — but I know much more than he does about interest rates,” he had said.

Donald Trump's jibes against Jerome Powell's stance and pace on interest rate cuts have been ongoing, with some speculating that the Fed chief may be axed — something that the US president has denied.

Fed to cut staff by 10% over next years

Meanwhile, Bloomberg in a report said that the central bank plans to cut jobs by 10 per cent over the next couple of years, by way of attrition. It cited a memo by Jerome Powell, which informed staff of the decision on May 16 (Friday).

“I have directed the leadership of the Federal Reserve, here at the Board and across the System, to find incremental ways to consolidate functions where appropriate, modernise some business practices and ensure that we are right-sized and able to meet our statutory mission. Over the next couple of years, our overall staffing level will decline by about 10 per cent from today,” it stated.

As per the memo, the plan is for some employees to take voluntary retirement, in a repeat of the bank's 1997 deferred resignation programme. This iwll be on offer to those employees who are fully eligible to retire as of December 31, 2027.

As per the Fed's 2023 annual report, it has 23,950 employees, while the 2024 budget foresaw boosting headcount to 24,553, up 2.5 per cent. A 10 per cent staff cut would be headcount of 2,500, closer to those a decade ago.

Earlier amid pressure from the Trump administration and statements from DOGE chief Elon Musk, Jerome Powell denied overstaffing at the central bank. “Overworked maybe, not overstaffed. Everybody at the Fed works really hard,” he said during a congressional hearing in February.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)