Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on 1 July that “a solid majority” of Federal Open Market Committee members anticipate lowering interest rates later this year. He added that he could not say whether the panel’s late-July gathering would be too soon to consider a cut. The Fed has held its benchmark federal funds rate at 4.25%–4.50% since March after an aggressive tightening campaign to cool inflation. Officials have signalled they want clearer evidence that price pressures are sustainably easing before pivoting to an easing cycle. On 30 July, former President Donald Trump told reporters he had “heard” the Fed intends to cut rates in September. The central bank has not commented on Trump’s assertion, and no Fed official has publicly committed to a specific timetable for the first reduction.