President Donald Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, accusing the central bank under Powell's leadership of maintaining elevated interest rates despite what Trump described as a growing economy.
"In the old days when you had good numbers, interest rates would go down. When you had good numbers, the market would go through the roof," Trump said in remarks that aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.
"That's the way we're going to make it again. That's the old-fashioned way.
"That's the right way. Today, if you announce great numbers, they raise interest rates to try and kill it," he said.
"So you can never really have the kind of rally you should have."
Trump later added: "We're going to have a lot of great months, a lot of great quarters. I want the market to go up.
"You announce unbelievable numbers, the market goes down because they know they're going to you're going to do everything possible in the Fed. We have a real stiff in the Fed, but that's for another day.
"But they raise rates, so everyone says, 'Oh, they announced great numbers. It's great, great, great,'" he continued.
"And the market goes down, because they immediately raise rates."
Trump continued by arguing that the Federal Reserve should reduce rates when markets perform well.
"No. When the market goes up, they should lower rates. You want to see 20% and 25%.
"You want to see what we can do? We've got to go back to an old standard," he said.
"When there's good news, the market should go up, not go down. Does that make sense to everybody?"
Powell was appointed Fed chair during Trump's first term and later reappointed by former President Joe Biden.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell for the central bank's reluctance to lower interest rates and has vowed to replace him when his term expires in May.
The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate three times in 2025, most recently lowering the federal funds target range to 3.50%–3.75% in December 2025.
Powell is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice.
On Sunday, he disclosed the central bank received grand jury subpoenas tied to his congressional testimony in June regarding a multiyear renovation of Federal Reserve buildings in Washington, D.C.
Trump said the Federal Reserve's policy is holding back economic growth.
"Our growth potential is unlimited, and it could be much higher if we went back to sanity. We're not doing it anymore.
"We're talking about the head of a Fed, and I want somebody that when the market is doing great, interest rates can go down, because our country becomes stronger," he said.
"So you view it differently. Our country becomes stronger, and therefore interest rates should go down, not up."
Trump also accused the central bank of stifling market gains out of inflation concerns.
"They kill every rally, no matter who's president. You have a good quarter, and they want to kill it because they're so petrified of inflation," he said.
"And growth and inflation don't necessarily go hand in hand. You can have growth and very low inflation.
"In fact, oftentimes, growth is good for low inflation. It's sickening," Trump said.
"We announce good numbers and we see the stock market drops 300 points. I say what the hell is going on?"
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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