The first year of Donald Trump's return to the US presidency has seen a notable decline in the value of the dollar and an increase in US debt interest rates, but by no means can it be considered an unprecedented fall. Despite Washington's threats to close US allies—such as Denmark—the trade war, military interventions in Venezuela and Iran, and attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve (the Fed, the US central bank), the greenback has leveraged its dominant position as a safe-haven currency to maintain its strength.

Never before had a Federal Reserve chairman been forced to record a video to convey a dramatic message Addressed to the citizens of the United States, as Jerome Powell did early this morning. In a country and an international environment where almost everyone has chosen to bow to Donald Trump's wishes or, at least, try not to further enrage him, Powell has decided to confront him and tell the truth; that is, that the federal investigation opened against him for the alleged misuse of funds in some of the institution's construction projects is nothing more than a ploy to stop him from doing his job according to his technical expertise and instead simply obey the president's wishes.

Donald Trump appears to have started the year determined to carry out his threats. The Justice Department—which has become the tycoon's personal ministry for settling scores—has opened a criminal investigation against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The case comes after months of pressure from the US president against Powell for not bowing to his demands, further tightens the Republican's siege of the Fed, and represents another blow to the institution's independence. This Monday, after Powell made the situation public, three former Federal Reserve chairs closed ranks with him in the face of Trump's "unprecedented" attacks. Powell's surviving predecessors, Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke, and Alan Greenspan, signed a letter along with a dozen other economists to express their support for the Fed chairman. "The purported criminal investigation against Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell constitutes an unprecedented attempt to use fiscal attacks to undermine that independence." The text emphasizes that "this has no place in the United States, for whom the greatest strength is the rule of law, the foundation of our economic success."

The Federal Reserve (Fed, the US central bank) cut interest rates again on Wednesday, this time by a quarter of a percentage point. This marks the third consecutive rate cut, following those approved in September and in [year missing]. OctoberWhen it also reduced the cost of credit by 0.25 points on both occasions.

With his obsession with imposing tariffs on all countries that don't yield to his demands, the US president demonstrates that he has little or no interest in the rules that have worked until now, nor in their enforcement. He hasn't hesitated for a second to rewrite them to his style and convenience, moving away from the canons of diplomacy and traditional political relations to achieve his goals, or at least make it seem that way.

The attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook is the latest action by Donald Trump in his campaign of harassment against the US central bank and shakes the credibility of its independence. In a legal maneuver of dubious legality, the US president said Monday night that he was dismissing Cook based solely on allegations of having submitted fraudulent information to apply for mortgages for two residences. In a statement issued by her lawyer, Cook has already stood up to Trump: "I will not resign." The governor maintains that "there is no legal cause" for her to do so, and her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, adds: "This attempt to fire her, based solely on a reference, lacks any legal authority or basis. We will file a lawsuit pursuing this legal action."

Donald Trump has found his Trojan horse for pulling the strings at the Federal Reserve: Stephen I. Miran, one of the greatest defenders of his tariff policies. Although the vacancy he would fill on the Fed's board of governors is temporary, Miran would occupy a seat that would allow him to influence the most important decisions of the US central bank, at a time when the US president sees the institution as a brake on his economic agenda.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump He denied in a press conference that he planned to fire Jerome Powell., the chairman of the Federal Reserve (the Fed, the US central bank). That same morning, several media outlets such as Bloomberg and The New York Times They had published that Trump had a draft letter to send to Congress to oust Powell, which led to an immediate drop in the dollar on the foreign exchange market and put the US stock market in the red. Only with the president's denial, a few minutes after its publication, did the situation in the markets normalize.

The Federal Reserve (Fed, the United States central bank) is once again defying Donald Trump and keeping interest rates unchanged at 4.25% and 4.5%, despite pressure from the US president, who has threatened to demand a cut since taking office. The central bank has also updated its projections for the country's economy, now predicting only a 0.5 percentage point cut in interest rates by the end of the year, through two 0.25 percentage point cuts, the dates for which have yet to be set. The decision is justified by a forecast for the United States of lower economic growth, higher unemployment and higher inflation for the remainder of 2025.

The Federal Reserve (Fed, the United States central bank) warned this Wednesday that the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump will cause inflation. Given this scenario and the growing "uncertainty" in the US economy, the monetary institution has once again left interest rates unchanged.