The Fed kept rates unchanged Wednesday, much to the chagrin of a certain US president with designs on setting monetary policy himself.

Just hours ahead of the new FOMC statement and the release of updated Fed macro projections, Donald Trump called Jerome Powell “just a stupid person.”

“I’m nasty. I’m nice. Nothing works,” Trump said, openly lamenting Powell’s refusal to succumb to pressure from The White House. “Maybe I should go to the Fed,” Trump went on, before asking reporters, “Am I allowed to appoint myself?”

No. The answer to Trump’s question is definitively “no.” The Fed’s not the Kennedy Center. But Trump’s not fond of “no.” Historically, he doesn’t take it for an answer. In any context.

Anyway, the new FOMC statement described the US economy in much the same terms as the May statement. Economic activity’s expanding “at a solid pace” and the labor market’s generally fine. Inflation, the Committee reiterated, “remains somewhat elevated.”

The statement said uncertainty has “diminished” although, like inflation, it “remains elevated.” The Fed dropped a reference to risks having increased on both sides of its mandate. That’s notable, and it presumably reflects a softening of the US tariff stance.

Despite a series of favorable reads on consumer and producer price growth, the new SEP found the median projection for core PCE revised higher for 2025 to 3.1% from 2.8% in March. That forecast was 2.5% in December.

The unemployment rate projection for this year was marked up a tenth to 4.5%, and the growth outlook down to just 1.4%. The core PCE, UNR and GDP forecasts for 2026 are now 2.4 (from 2.2%), 4.5% (from 4.3%) and 1.6% (from 1.8%), respectively.

Taken together, the economic projections were more stagflationary versus March.

As for the dots, the median still tips two cuts for this year. That could be seen as a dovish nod in the face of deteriorating near-term growth prospects. Some market participants expected a hawkish shift in the 2025 marker.

Do note, though: The Fed’s torn. Nine officials see fewer than 50bps of cuts this year. Seven of those nine projected no cuts. And the rate path for 2026 and 2027 reflects just one cut in each of those years. The long run dot (the neutral marker) was unchanged at 3%.

All in all, this was a mostly as-expected result from the Fed. Again, the SEP skewed towards stagflation perhaps more so than anticipated. And it looked to me like the Committee wanted to thread the needle on the dots: The cost of keeping two cuts in play for 2025 was fewer cuts in the out years, and there’s anyway a lot of disagreement.

Whatever the case, Trump will call it an intolerable outcome indicative of an unpatriotic monetary authority determined to undermine his agenda.