Trump may allow lawsuit against Powell, cites ‘incalculable’ damage

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is “considering allowing a major lawsuit against” the US central bank chief to proceed, as he renewed pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

“The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He added that he is thinking of allowing a lawsuit taking aim at Powell’s oversight on the Fed’s renovations, but did not offer more details.

“I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings.”

“JEROME ‘TOO LATE’ POWELL”

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” Trump remarked, as he nicknamed as Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell.

The latest comments came just a day after Trump announced his plan to federalise the Washington DC police and deploy the National Guards to “combat” violent crime.

With a promise to deal with illegal immigration, the move shows Trump can go to any length to pursue his agenda. US interest rate cuts is one of them, but Powell isn’t ready to budge, resulting in Tuesday’s social media post.

Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Powell this year over the Fed’s decisions to keep interest rates steady since its last cut in December.

Policymakers have been cautiously monitoring the effects of Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs on the world’s biggest economy, as they mulled the right time to lower rates further.

This is because it takes time for levies to filter through to consumer prices.

The jury is still out on whether Trump’s latest tariffs will have a one-off or longer-term impact on inflation, but the president has regularly pointed to benign data to urge for rate reductions to boost the economy.