The U.S. economy could slow unless interest rates are lowered immediately, President Donald Trump said on Monday, repeating his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who says rates should not be lowered until it is clearer Trump's tariff plans won't lead to a persistent surge in inflation.

Three weeks after US President Donald Trump effectively declared a trade war with the whole world, new economic forecasts and surveys will point to the initial fallout.

Trump has repeatedly put pressure on Powell to cut interest rates. The Fed has so far kept rates on hold this year after lowering them three times in 2024.

Donald Trump is reported to be studying whether to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who he says has been too slow to cut rates. The news has jangled nerves on markets, but does the U.S. president have the power to sack a Fed boss?

President Donald Trump on Monday kept up his verbal assault on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the Fed's refusal for now to further cut interest rates, rattling financial markets growing ever more fearful that Trump may ultimately try to fire the U.