President Donald Trump issued the latest call on Friday to lower the US Federal Reserve, following an employment report that surpassed expectations in April.
“Like I said, we’re just in the transition phase and we’re just starting out!!!” Trump wrote in a frenzy truth social post minutes after the latest non-farm pay data came out.
“Consumers have been waiting for years to see prices drop. There is no inflation, he wrote.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning that seasonally adjusted employment of 177,000 people in April increased non-farm salaries, breaking Dow Jones’ estimates of 133,000. However, that figure fell below the downwardly revised 185,000 jobs added in March.
In this post, Trump continues his efforts to influence the central bank’s decision-making process, challenging years of independence from the administrative sector.
But it also shows that Trump is further reducing his criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who appeared to be under threat until recently.
Trump has long criticised Powell and criticised him for lowering his ratings in hopes of spurring growth. Economic aide Kevin Hassett last month said the White House was searching for rules that allow the president to fire Powell.
Powell claims Trump cannot legally fire him before his term because his Fed chair expired in May 2026. But Trump still fears that he might try to replace Powell with someone willing to succumb to political pressure.
On April 21st, these fears sparked a sale that saw a major index and slump in the US dollar on the same day.
Since then, Trump has said he has “no intention” to fire Powell, and he has backed his criticism.
“I have some Fed people who don’t do a really good job,” Trump told Powell at a Michigan rally on Tuesday without mentioning by name.
“I want to be very kind and respectful to the Fed,” he added. “You’re not going to criticize the Fed. You’re supposed to have him do his own thing, but I know more than he does about interest rates, I believe in me.”
Trump’s Friday morning message contrasted with his response to Wednesday’s news that the US economy had signed for the first time since 2022.
In that case, Trump denounced former President Joe Biden for his bad reading of GDP in the first quarter, claiming that “he left us with a bad number.”
Later on Wednesday, Trump suggested he would once again blame Biden in the second quarter.
– CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.