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 central bank is poised to hold interest rates steady this month, but there could be a path to cut as early as September.

Three things can simultaneously be true: that it would be reasonable for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates; that its headquarters renovation is too expensive; and that the Trump administration's attacks show why central banks are designed to be independent in the first place.