MBA Mortgage Applications -1.4% vs 10.9% Prior
Updates at 20:15 ET (00:15 GMT) with context on rate cuts, Powell stance
Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump once again took aim at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday evening, criticizing the central banker for being “too late” in cutting interest rates.
Trump claimed that Powell’s unwillingness to cut rates now stood to hurt the housing market, and that the Fed Chair should cut rates immediately.
“Could somebody please inform Jerome “Too Late” Powell that he is hurting the Housing Industry, very badly? People can’t get a Mortgage because of him. There is no Inflation, and every sign is pointing to a major Rate Cut. “Too Late” is a disaster,” Trump said in a post on Truth.Social.
The president’s latest criticism of Powell comes just days before the central banker’s widely anticipated address at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.
Powell is set to speak amid growing bets that the Fed will cut interest rates in September. Markets are pricing in an 84.4% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points during its mid-September meeting, CME Fedwatch showed.
Bets on a September easing were fueled chiefly by soft payrolls and consumer inflation data for July, given that the Fed has cited the labor market and inflation as its two biggest considerations in easing policy.
But producer inflation read hotter than expected for July, sparking some uncertainty over whether the Fed will be convinced to cut rates next month.
Powell, so far, has remained largely non-commital towards any future rate cuts, despite increasing ire from the Trump administration to loosen monetary policy. The Fed chair has repeatedly cited uncertainty over the inflationary impact of Trump’s trade tariffs as a key de-motivator of interest rate cuts.
But Trump’s repeated calls for easing have also sparked some discord among the Fed’s ranks. Two members of the rate-setting board voted for a rate cut in July.
Trump was also seen seeking several avenues for Powell’s removal from the Fed before his term expires in May 2026. The president is expected to name Powell’s successor earlier than usual to undermine his stance on interest rates.