Trump again targets Fed’s Powell on interest rate cuts

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(Corrects day of the week to Wednesday in paragraphs 1,5)

SEOUL (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump complained on Wednesday about the Federal Reserve, once again taking aim at central bank chief Jerome Powell for perceived delays in cutting interest rates.

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell,” Trump said in a speech in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, prompting laughter from an audience of corporate executives and leaders gathered for the CEO Summit of the APEC grouping.

“We’re not going to have a Fed that’s going to raise interest rates because they’re worried about inflation in three years from now,” Trump added, possibly conceding that inflation could accelerate eventually.

He said he expected the U.S. economy to expand 4% in the first quarter of 2026, far above a median estimate in a Reuters poll, as economists see his administration’s new import taxes remaining a drag on the economy.

Wednesday’s remarks underscore the tension between Trump and the Federal Reserve as Trump has attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates quickly, saying the Fed is lagging behind its European counterpart and hurting business sentiment.

Analysts expect the Fed to next cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point at a meeting on October 28 and 29.

Trump also listed investment pledges that he said run into hundreds of billions of dollars from global companies such as Taiwan’s TSMC Global, Japan’s SoftBank and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor, as well as pharmaceutical companies.

He wants to work with South Korea and Japan on shipbuilding, he added.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)