The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced it will not lower interest rates, refusing once again to obey President Trump’s persistent demands to do so. In explaining the decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed to Trump’s tariffs and their impact on the economy.

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, even as President Donald Trump continued to push the U.S. central bank to cut borrowing costs. Trump, who last week made a rare presidential visit to the Fed's headquarters in Washington as part of a campaign to pressure Fed Chair Jerome Powell,