A top White House budget official said President Trump is "troubled" by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's management, as Mr. Trump pressures him over interest rates.

Trump has criticized Powell for months because the chair has kept the short-term interest rate the Fed controls at 4.3% this year, after cutting it three times last year. Powell says the Fed wants to see how the economy responds to Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports, which Powell says could push up inflation.

The speech comes as President Donald Trump intensifies pressure on the Fed to lower borrowing costs. Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell and has floated firing and replacing him before his term ends in May 2026. Waller, a Trump appointee, is considered a top contender for the job in part because of his dovish stance on interest rates.

A top official at the Federal Reserve on Thursday reiterated his call for an interest rate cut later this month, despite data showing ongoing resilience in the US economy and other central bankers pushing to keep rates steady.

President Donald Trump has looked to the marble finishes and hefty price tag of the Federal Reserve headquarters to claim grounds to fire Chair Jerome Powell, with whom he has tussled for years over interest rates.

Chicago Federal Reserve president Austan Goolsbee expressed support for Jerome Powell and central bank independence when asked about pressure being applied from President Trump, saying the Fed chair is a 'totally honorable guy.

An excerpt from "Trillion Dollar Triage" details Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s measured public responses – and more candid private reactions – to Trump’s ongoing threats to fire him.

President Donald Trump may ultimately get his wish for lower interest rates, but it isn’t likely to be the result of his intensifying criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.